Picture from better days: the West courted Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to get his money (FIFA President Gianni Infantino (l, Switzerland) and President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (r, Russia) / Source: IMAGO/ULMER Press Photo Agency)
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, launched a war against Ukraine, which sees itself as part of Europe. We in the West have no understanding for this and strongly condemn Russia's actions. Unprecedented sanctions in the history of Europe and NATO are intended to stop Russia. Even a third world war is threatening. But now athletes are becoming official targets of the war.
You can have understanding for everything, but you don't have to approve of everything, including what the West does. No one in the West has sympathy for the actions of Vladimir Putin, who is sending his troops to war against Ukraine and the democratic ideology of the West. There are no words for the cruelty and suffering of this war. Vladimir Putin wants to turn back the wheel of time and restore the conditions of the time of the Soviet Union in the 70s and this at any price, but this is not possible. Time always advances, even if man does not want it to. The West is trying to stop this madness with the most severe sanctions in the history of Europe, but so far without success. Vladimir Putin is not swayed by economic sanctions. This man lives by other standards. But to instrumentalize international athletes and events for the politics of the West is not very successful and wrong from a human point of view. What can Russian athletes do about the fact that the government of their home country is starting a war? The presumed influence of athletes, sports associations and officials on Vladimir Putin is massively overestimated by the West. The Russian government's reactions to such punitive measures so far: None. The success of sanctions against athletes so far: zero.
One can well understand Wladimir Klitschko, who together with his brother Vitali is holding out in the capital Kiev, defying the Russians' war of aggression, when, driven by anger and despair, he asks the West, Europe, to stand up to the Russian athletes in the hope of influencing the Kremlin. In its dramatic situation, it has nothing to lose and is trying to put all its eggs in the basket to successfully resist the war of the Russians. But Europe and the West should keep moderation with all the injustice that Russia and the Russian government are committing and not spread the war to the sports field. It really has no place there. And the effect of such sanctions on the Russian leadership is zero! The Klitschko brothers are already the icons of resistance of this unfair war against their country.
"I have nothing personally against the athletes, but I have a lot against the aggression of Russian President Putin and his war machine," 45-year-old Vladimir Klitschko said in an interview with Britain's Mirror newspaper. Russia from all competitions would not be an act of aggression. Russian athletes would then ask their government why no one wants to compete against them anymore. Sanctions at a variety of levels, including in sports, are very important, he said. "We have to stop this war, in the name of peace," the ex-professional said.
Again, I can very well understand Wladimir Klitschko and we are all at least in spirit at his side and at the side of his brother. But I am convinced that such sanctions will have no effect on the Russian leadership. Because Putin is abusing this war and the suffering and also the negative consequences for Europe in order to put pressure on Europe and the West, and for this he is entitled to any means. Such a calculating and callous person will accept anything to achieve his goal, no matter how.
On February 28, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia from all competitions because of the invasion of Ukraine. As a result, FIFA decided that Russia's match against Poland, scheduled for March 24, would not take place and Robert Lewandowski's side would enter the second playoff stage without a game. There, the Poles will face the winner of the match between Sweden and the Czech Republic on March 29. Russia has appealed the exclusion to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The series of sanctions exercised against Russian athletes, officials and sports federations is countless, but I will take up here only two more recent reports that reflect this issue, namely the expulsion of Nikita Mazepin from the Formula 1 team and and the lifetime ban of Anatoly Tymoshchuk.
Nikita Mazepin's expulsion from the Haas Formula 1 racing team
A few days ago it became known that the Haas Formula 1 racing team is parting ways with its Russian racing driver Nikita Mazepin. With Russia's attack on Ukraine, the team parted ways with its main Russian sponsor Uralkali and driver Nikita Mazepin. The separation from Mazepin as well as Uralkali is seen by team manager Günther Steiner as absolutely without alternative. The day after the Russian invasion, he and team owner Gene Haas immediately began to think about the consequences for the team and cooperation over breakfast. For him, it was clear: "You have to draw consequences." But it then took a few more days before the parting - which Mazepin described as "not fair." "There was no legal reason that would have enabled the team to terminate my contract," Mazepin said Wednesday. Steiner finds it "difficult to say" whether he sees Mazepin as a victim and feels sorry for him, he expressed in an interview with RTL/ntv. He was "always sorry when you have to do something like that." Steiner continues: "The external circumstances, which neither I nor he can change, are just the way they are. You have to live with it and move on. I see it as part of life." That does seem a bit hypocritical.
Nikita Mazepin's reaction was not long in coming. The Russian Formula 1 racing driver is disappointed that Haas has parted company with him. With around two weeks to go before the start of the Formula 1 season in Bahrain, he is without a cockpit. While he understands the complications, he wrote in a statement, "the FIA's regulations and my will to accept the proposed conditions to move on were completely ignored and there was no process in this unilateral move," said the 22-year-old, who announced he would say more in the coming days.
The FIA, the world governing body for automobiles, had allowed Russian drivers to participate in FIA competitions such as the Formula One World Championship as neutral athletes despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine - on the condition that "they explicitly commit to respecting the FIA principles of peace and political neutrality."
The role of Mazepin's father probably made things more difficult. Mazepin's father Dmitri, with his company Uralkali, was not only a Haas sponsor - from whom they also parted company - but also an acquaintance of Putin's. It is said that he met with the Russian president even during the war.
The fact that Nikita Mazepin does not oppose the war and Putin also hurt him. Moreover, publicly Nikita Mazepin has not yet positioned himself against the war initiated by Russia or against Putin. On his Instagram account, there is still a photo of him congratulating Putin on his birthday - the fact that he did not delete the picture has earned him a lot of criticism.
Nikita Mazepin is clearly a victim of Russia's war against Ukraine. He was not guilty of anything that would justify ejection. But the Haas team probably fears damage to its image and the loss of further sponsors if it does not take a clear stand against Russia. The FIA had behaved in an exemplary manner and still gave the athletes a chance. In the case of the team's separation from Urakali as the main sponsor, one can really have understanding; in the case of Mazepin's separation, one can very well side with the racer, who reserves the right to take legal action.
Anatoly Tymoshchuk receives life ban
Yes, many will wonder who is Anatoly Tymoshchuk. Anatoly Tymoshchuk used to be the captain of the Ukrainian national team. Despite being asked to do so, the former Ukrainian football superstar has refrained from condemning Russia's war against Ukraine. As a result, the Ukrainian federation has now banned the 42-year-old from all domestic football activities for life. Tymoshchuk has neither made a public statement on the war nor ended his work as an assistant coach at Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, the federation announced. He will be stripped of all sporting titles won in Ukraine. Tymoshchuk is Ukraine's record international with 144 caps, well ahead of Andrei Shevchenko. Among other things, he played for Bayern Munich for 4 years. In addition, the former Bayern Munich star (2009 to 2013 at the record champion) will have his coaching license revoked with immediate effect.
Certainly, one can understand and sympathize with the position of the Ukrainian Football Association, but as I said, it is politics that is now being played out on the football pitch and it should really have no place there. If the Ukrainian Football Association wanted to represent Western values, it would also have to respect the freedom of expression of the former Ukrainian football star, whether he likes it or not.
Do not throw freedom values overboard out of anger
You don't win a war by persecuting and ostracizing innocent people. The Russian war against Ukraine is Putin's war against the West, its democratic worldview and its values. The more victims Putin can create, the more likely he is to achieve his goal, at least this seems to be the calculation of the Russian ruler. If the West now creates victims on the side of the Russians, this will not improve the situation in Ukraine, nor will it change anything about the entry of the Russian army. We should not let this war incite us to wage war against Russians ourselves. By doing so, Putin robs us of our liberal and Christian values and makes us complicit in the war. If the West wants to do something against Putin, then it must further tighten the sanctions and think about whether it must not enter the war, because it is questionable whether the latter really makes good his indirect threat of a nuclear war, because that would also be his own downfall and the downfall of the Russian people.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
English 
Deutsch 
Français 
Español 
Italiano