In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia has seemingly lost the support of much of the Western world. From sports to shipping ports, the knock-on effects of Putin’s aggressive advancements have had expensive effects for the country.
Here are a few repercussions of Putin’s war plans:
Sports
- Rugby: World Rugby has suspended Russia and Belarus from all international rugby and cross-border club rugby activities until further notice.
- Football: FIFA and UEFA have decided that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice. Additionally, UEFA, removed Russia as the host of the 2022 Champions League final. The final will move from Krestovsky stadium in St. Petersburg to the Stade de France in Paris.
- Motor sports: Formula One’s (F1) Nikita Mazepincould could face the axe as a result of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s motorsport federation has called on the FIA to ban all Russian and Belarusian drivers from competing at the international level. Additionally, Formula One dropped this season’s Russian Grand Prix at Sochi.
- Olympics: The International Olympic Committee has urged sports bodies to cancel or move all events they plan to hold in Russia and Belarus and stop using the countries’ flags and national anthems. Additionally, there have been calls to ban Russian and Belarus athletes from any participation.
- Martial arts: The International Judo Federation (IJF) suspended Vladimir Putin as its Honorary President and Ambassador. Additionally, the federation revoked Putin’s blackbelt.
- Chess: The International Chess Federation announced the termination of all existing sponsorship agreements with any Belarusian and Russian sanctioned and/or state-controlled companies and will not enter into new sponsorship agreements.
- Swimming: Swimming’s global governing body FINA has called off the World Junior Swimming Championships that were set to take place in Kazan, Russia.
- Skiing: The International Ski Federation (FIS) announced that Russia will not host any of its World Cup events this year.
- Badminton: Badminton’s world governing body (BWF) has cancelled all sanctioned tournaments in Russia and Belarus.
- Tennis: The ATP Tour has cancelled its tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia.
In addition, multiple sports teams are refusing to participate in fixtures set against Russian teams and sporting federations are excluding Russian athletes altogether. Other implications extend into the domains of hockey, basketball and karate, to name a few.
Branding and sponsorships form a huge part of what makes the sporting world go round. And Russia’s move on Ukraine has been bad for business. Manchester United Football Club, for example, plans to cancel its £40 million sponsorship deal with Aeroflot, the Russian airline that’s also now banned by the British government from flying in UK airspace, reports Forbes.
Russian representation is being trashed, too.
German football club FC Schalke 04, for example, has scrapped Russian company Gazprom’s logo on its jerseys and replaced it with “Freedom For Ukraine.” Not an isolated action. Haas has removed the logos and colour scheme of title sponsor Uralkali from its F1 car. The company is co-owned by Mazepin’s father Dmitry, a Russian billionaire with close ties to Putin.
Sports to ports
Beyond the world of sport, Russian vessels will be banned from British ports, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Monday. Spain has also proposed banning Russian ships from entering its ports as the country’s transport minister said on Monday.
Politician Raquel Sanchez said, “We are proposing a series of measures that range from banning the importation and exportation of ships, to banning supplying Russian vessels and the measure that I believe would be most effective — banning ships with the Russian flag from docking in Spanish ports.”
“The ban on the passage of Russia’s warships to the Black Sea and significant military and humanitarian support for Ukraine today, and it’s very important. We will never forget that,” Zelensky said.
There have been calls to ban Russian ships and planes from entering Scotland, too.
On the note of boating, a Ukrainian sailor working on the superyacht of a Russian arms supplier, attempted to sink the vessel in protest. The yacht is reportedly valued at $7.8 million (over R120 million).
“My boss is a criminal who sells weapons that kill the Ukrainian people,” the 55-year-old man told civil guards who arrived at the scene to arrest him. He was reportedly released later on with charges remaining unknown.
The Arts
Multiple Russian ballet companies, including the Bolshoi, and other music performances have also been cancelled in protest against Russia’s invasion and voicing support for Ukraine.
In the UK alone, the Royal Opera House has cancelled a summer season from the Bolshoi Ballet, the Helix theatre in Dublin cancelled a performance of Swan Lake by the Royal Moscow Ballet, and the Bristol Hippodrome, the Edinburgh Playhouse, the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, the New Theatre Peterborough, and the Royal and Derngate in Northampton have all cancelled tour performances from the Russian State Ballet of Siberia, reports ClassicFM.
“We hope this helps to clarify the diversity of our ballet company and that we don’t carry any political message on this tour. We simply dance for peace,” said the Royal Moscow Ballet in a statement.
As with the exclusion of athletes, directors, conductors and other professionals in the creative industry are receiving the boot. In New York, for example, the iconic Carnegie Hall was set to host the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Russian music director, Valery Gergiev, with the piano soloist, Denis Matsuev. Both musicians, who allegedly have strong ties with Putin, were removed from the programme and replaced.
Other prestigious companies are also on board with taking Russians off-board.
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York announced on Sunday that it would sever all ties with “Russian artists and institutions who are allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Other productions, including plays and opera performances, to name a few, have also been scrapped.
Banking
Further, the United States, European Union, and the United Kingdom have agreed to remove some Russian banks from the SWIFT international banking system in an effort to limit Russia’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine.
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Simply put, it’s is a global payments system, which is used by more than 11,000 financial institutions and companies around the world, across over 200 countries. It’s basically a messaging system for money transfers.
“Because Russia is now being cut out from that central system, Russia’s central bank will see its assets frozen and that will really limit Russia’s ability to access its overseas reserves and will really isolate Russia now,” says Gavin Grey, UK Correspondent.
Meanwhile, locals have been left wondering where South Africa stands in this battle between what appears to be most of the world versus Russia. The country has already started feeling the knock on effects of the invasion. These include an increase in fuel, food and energy prices.
Also read: Food, fuel and energy prices to soar as result of Russia-Ukraine conflict, experts say
A sponsored (often indicating paid content in the media world) was shared this morning by a South African news agency. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the South African government, celebrating our diplomatic relationship.
The content dedicates paragraphs to the Russian MFA’s “South African friends”. In fact, it congratulated “our South African friends on this occasion”.
Read the full statement here:
Russia celebrates 30 years of diplomacy with SA – A ‘flattering’ reminder to its ‘friends’
Picture: Cape {town} Etc