Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
F1 AND UEFA JOIN FORCES AGAINST PUTIN
association with Russian airline Aeroflot. It follows UEFA’S emergency Exco meeting when they switched the European final to Paris on May 28 and also decided to try to cut ties with a key Russian sponsor.
A UEFA spokesman said: “There will be other meetings of the Exco soon where additional matters will be addressed.”
Russia are due to play in next month’s World Cup play-offs, but UEFA have said that they and Ukraine will have to play at neutral venues until further notice.
And Russia’s women’s team also face uncertainty ahead of this summer’s Euros, which are being hosted in England, as there are doubts over whether they will be allowed to take part.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel (below) said he supported the decision to move the Champions League final to Paris.
He said: “It’s the worst reason to change a location. Absolutely the worst reason.
“There are things more important and the focus from us in global and sportively speaking is not at the final.”
Sports minister Nigel Huddleston said: “I welcome the decision by UEFA to strip Russia of its right to host the Champions League final. The voice of sport matters.
“I appreciate that a lot of people are uncomfortable mixing sport and ‘politics’, but the situation in Ukraine is way beyond ‘politics’. I urge other governing bodies due to host international sporting events in Russia this year to follow suit.”
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries also welcomed F1’s decision to scrap the Sochi GP. She said: “The withdrawal of the Russian GP is yet another clear message to President Putin that the international sporting world will not stand by and allow him to use these events to legitimise his illegal and deadly invasion of Ukraine.”
And no more World Cup events organised by the International Ski Federation will be staged in Russia.
Yesterday, an attempt to hold ski-cross races in the Urals resort of Sunny Valley saw just six Russians out of 61 scheduled competitors starting in the events – with dozens of racers from other countries failing to take part.