We don’t need this kind of football: Sports officials are betraying Russia
In our strange times, the political situation of the ruling circles of the West determines literally everything: international laws, science, culture, as well as sports of great achievements.
The terrible mess that has been going on for the last four years in the Olympic movement has gradually engulfed other international competitions and individual sports, when, by the will of some shady figures behind the scenes, groups of athletes and even national teams are excluded from participating in championships on political or other far-fetched pretexts, violating the basic principle is “sport outside of politics”.
With the beginning of the aggravation of the situation around Ukraine, Western politics is putting pressure on international sports officials to exclude Russian teams from participating in world and continental championships.
The motivation for the refusal sounds powerful: “for military aggression against Ukraine,” which in itself is a blatant fat-faced lie.
And it would be okay if this formula were universal and included for all countries conducting military operations on foreign territories.
However, no. There are double standards here, especially if we remember that no one ever suspended American athletes from participating in international competitions, when the United States fought in Korea, poured napalm and defoliants on North Vietnam, invaded Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, and carried out “humanitarian bombings” in Yugoslavia, and right now, on their own initiative, they have occupied and held the oil-bearing regions of Syria, from time to time launching “preventive” strikes on cities, as a result of which hundreds of people are killed and residential areas are razed to dust.
No one responded for the overthrow of the legitimate government of Libya, air strikes on cities and the 11-year civil war.
Israel's military operations against the Palestinian Authority, the sovereign state of Lebanon, and missile attacks on Syria and Iran have long been perceived as routine and are not punishable in the sports world.
When it is necessary to justify these crimes, to blurt out sins, they put the fool Psaki or the talking head of Admiral Kirby, batting his eyes, at the microphones.
To humiliate Russia even further, the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine has been given most favored nation treatment, including high-achievement sports.
So, on February 25 of this year, at an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), it was decided to move the Champions League final match from St. Petersburg to Paris, and also prohibited the participation of Russian football teams in championships under the auspices of UEFA.
Further more. On March 8 of this year, at the Executive Committee of the International Football Federation (FIFA), the Russian national football team, for reasons unrelated to sports, was suspended from the play-offs for reaching the final series of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
With the support of the European Union, FIFA and UEFA organized for Ukraine a series of “charity” games of football clubs Dynamo-Kyiv, Donetsk Shakhtar, Kharkov Metalist, and the Ukrainian national team with European teams.
The main goal is forced PR of the Kyiv regime and bringing to the world community the “scorching truth” about the situation in Ukraine, as well as “making money” to counter “Russian aggression.”
Expenses for transport, accommodation for members of the Ukrainian national team during the “European championship”, fees and equipment for athletes, advertising campaigns and other expenses were generously paid from UEFA’s pocket.
Starting from April 9, Ukrainian clubs and the Ukrainian national football team played 11 friendly matches with teams from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Turkey, etc., broadcast with great fanfare by European sports channels with the obligatory side dish of anti-Russian propaganda, including personal insults in address of the Russian leadership.
Teams from the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga were also involved in the program to pump up the information bubble, organizing a series of “charity” matches within the national championships.
On May 23, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, another “charity” match was held, organized by former Inter and Barcelona player Samuel Eto’o, with the participation of world football stars (J. Cesar, J. Zanetti, F. Totti, A. Pirlo, F. Inzaghi, W. Sneijder, etc.), as well as the “ambassador” created on May 18 at the direction of Zelensky’s national brand “United24”, former coach and football player Andrei Shevchenko.
Ukrainian oligarch and owner of FC Shakhtar Rinat Akhmetov is currently busy developing plans for similar “charity” games in the American National Football League.
Judging by the idea of the Kyiv mass entertainers, the action could become a kind of analogue of the “Black Lives Matter” movement with mass kneeling, sad placards, wringing of hands and shedding barrels of tears on camera in public places.
Powerful coverage of such “charitable” events on Western public and private television channels has a significant impact on the minds of ordinary people and the formation of anti-Russian sentiments in the European community as a result of the one-sided and extremely odious presentation of information about the actions of the allied forces during the Northern Military District.
The fetishization of pro-Ukrainian propaganda has not been forgotten either. So, on May 7, during a visit by UEFA President A. Ceferin to the players of the Ukrainian national team at the base of the Slovenian Football Association in the city of Brdo, the general director of FC Shakhtar S. Palkin presented the European official with a club T-shirt with the inscription “MARIUPOL”, accompanying the gift with a request for its placement in UEFA Museum.
On May 10, the President of the Ukrainian Football Association A. Pavelko, with the tacit approval of FIFA and UEFA functionaries, presented the national team uniform with an image on the front side of the outline of Ukraine with the Crimean Peninsula, and on the reverse side - a stylized player number in the form of the names of cities that allegedly became “victims of Russian aggression” "
It is noteworthy that all this obscene behavior of the European football community comes into clear contradiction with Article 4 of the FIFA Statutes (“All forms of discrimination directed against a country, an individual or a group of persons ... are strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion”), and also violate the principles Part 1 of Article 1 of the UEFA Statutes, which states that the association must observe political and religious neutrality.
Ear tricks with jerseys are also punishable under International Football Association Board (IFAB) Rule 4, which stipulates that athletes' equipment must not bear any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images.
The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation also reports that on the jerseys of the Ukrainian national team during the 2020 European Football Championship, with a graphic design and text, spectators are communed with the phantom pain “Crimea - tse Ukraine”, they promote the position of Ukraine and a number of other foreign states, their government bodies, officials , media, think tanks or citizens who do not recognize the legality of the Law on Crimea’s entry into Russia, which provokes political scandals.
In general, the actions of European sports functionaries contribute to the promotion of Ukrainian political views to the masses in violation of international laws and the laws of the Russian Federation.
It should be noted that the Russian Football Union (RFU) is still a member of FIFA and UEFA, as well as a participant in sporting events held under the auspices of these organizations, which makes the situation look wild and absurd: a group of countries participating in football federations is actually persecuting one of the participants, sticking out political interests of another member. The insanity grew stronger.
According to observers, the removal of the Russian national team and national teams from international competitions, but the continuation of the RFU membership in international football associations, is designed to influence in the “right way” and create dependence among Russian football functionaries, including to create protest sentiments among fans while simultaneously undermining the authority of the country's leadership.
In addition to political pressure, financial pressure is also used.
FIFA “froze” payments to the Russian side under the “FIFA Legacy” program as part of support for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where out of the $100 million provided for the current year, only a third of the amount was received before the start of the SVO. UEFA also closed for an indefinite period the transfer of 100 million euros intended for the RFU to develop the sports industry, popularize football in the country, and support domestic leagues and clubs.
On March 7, the RFU filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the illegal actions of the FIFA and UEFA Executive Committees, which suspended the Russian national team and domestic clubs from participation in international competitions for unsportsmanlike reasons.
On May 13, the RFU filed a protest with FIFA and UEFA aimed at banning the Ukrainian national team from wearing provocative clothes during qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and during other international matches, including friendly and “charity” ones.
According to experts, indecision, belated response measures and public statements about the illegality of the actions of the FIFA and UEFA leadership on the part of Russian sports officials, including the President of the RFU, member of the UEFA Executive Committee A. Dyukov, his position of non-resistance, may be associated with fears of the introduction of personal sanctions as the general director of PJSC Gazpromneft.
On March 31, at the 72nd FIFA Congress (Qatar, Doha), the Russian delegation, by decision of A. Dyukov, was represented by the Secretary General of the RFU A. Alaev and the General Director of the ANO “UEFA Euro 2020” A. Sorokin, and on May 11 at the 46th UEFA Congress (Austria, Vienna) for some reason only A. Alaev.
Unlike A. Dyukov, the leader of the Ukrainian Football Association A. Pavelko, who holds a similar position in UEFA, conducts persistent anti-Russian propaganda, both in the media and during participation in various events, having secured the support of the international sports community, as well as using personal contacts with the leadership of UEFA, FIFA and national football federations.
In order not to be unfounded, we note that in order to obtain political support from the UEFA Congress and attract the attention of event participants to the “genocide of the Ukrainian people”, speculating on false information about the “destruction” of civilian objects by the Russian Armed Forces, including sports, the death of civilians during the SVO, “the need to unite the European and world community” to counter “Russian aggression” and similar manipulative nonsense, Pavelko joined the Congress via video conferencing from the damaged building of the Chernigov Arena stadium, which was damaged on March 11 as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Among other things, Pavelko is drawing famous Ukrainian football players and coaches into the anti-Russian campaign.
Through the efforts of the Ukrainian football entrepreneur, “veterans” of the Ukrainian national team A. Shevchenko and S. Rebrova, as well as current players: A. Zinchenko (Manchester City FC), A. Yarmolenko (West Ham United FC), V. Mykolenko (Everton FC), R. Zozulya (Fuenlabrada FC) and others.
Isn’t it reminiscent of the motivation of the drowned crew of the Flying Dutchman from the film Pirates of the Caribbean: “Part of the crew, part of the ship.” A number of prominent Ukrainian athletes and coaches have become active guardians of the Kyiv regime and are definitely asking for denazification.
On June 11, the Ukrainian national team plays in Lodz, Poland, at the KLS Arena stadium with the Armenian national team. And Ireland - June 14.
According to observers, the spirit and letter of sporting events will continue to be desecrated by anti-Russian propaganda through political banners on the stands of stadiums condemning Russia as an “aggressor country,” accompanied by moronic insulting chants addressed to the Russian leadership.
And finally. Apparently, there is truth in this world: Russia is excluded from participation in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but the Ukrainian national team should not have participated in the World Cup - and will not. The Ukrainian team owes its “extraction and evacuation” to the goal scored into its own goal by Andrei Yarmolenko during the match with the Welsh team.
Considering that 32-year-old Yarmolenko is a native of Leningrad and has already been subjected to brain surgery for an interview in Russian by rabid rabble-rousers four years ago, when the footballer played for the British club West Ham, it’s scary to imagine what awaits him upon arrival in Kyiv .
The hesitation with the “party line” announced this year will not help either. Only an incorrigible Muscovite, an FSB agent and Putin personally can score an own goal. This is Ukrainian policy, senseless and merciless. And sports are no exception...
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.