Manchester City footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko has called on the international sporting community to unite in shutting out Russia amid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, laying out five clear demands he believes must be followed.
The Ukraine international wished a ‘painful death’ on Putin last week after Russia launched a military campaign on his home nation across air, land and sea, a move of intense aggression which has been near-universally condemned around the globe.
With the death toll in Ukraine rising, the International Olympic Committee has requested the heads and governing bodies of all sports to suspend athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus from participating in international competitions.
FIFA are expected to impose a strict ban on Russia across all international football in the coming hours, meaning the national team will be unable to play at this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Zinchenko has added his voice to calls for Russia to be excluded from international sport.
He shared a statement on Instagram calling on governing bodies to ban Russia and its athletes from international competitions and impose restrictions on the country concerning media and sponsorship.
The post reads ‘no more Russia in international sport’ in capital letters, with the following five demands.
- Exclude Russia from all sports international governing bodies
- Ban any Russian athletes from participating in any international competitions.
- Stop the sale of rights to broadcasts of international sporting competitions to Russian media.
- Prohibit Russian companies from being sponsors of international competitions and clubs.
- Support Ukraine with information! Join to sharing true information about actions of the aggressor countries!
These Zinchenko’s series of demands regarding the boycott of Russia from international sport were shared on Twitter by City Xtra and it attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters.
As much as we all hate what’s happening I can’t agree with everything here. I don’t think every single Russian athlete aligns with the politics of their ruling government. Why should they suffer for the decision of one man? https://t.co/ZzB2XGEwzm
— Asokore Aberantie (@Mr_Swrites) February 28, 2022
That’s not fair
— Lord K (@mpedii) February 28, 2022
Too far. The Russian people and athletes are not responsible for political decisions. Zinchenko should enable the comments for discourse.
— . (@HonestMCIFan) February 28, 2022
Put Russia under a neutral flag, the players are not guilty and punishing them won’t solve anything
— 🇩🇪¹⁷ (@kdb17fan) February 28, 2022
i agree with all of this except banning russian competitors, most if not all of them have disagreed with the invasion, and banning them is literal discrimination
— 🇵🇹🏆 (@TheFatherDias) February 28, 2022
I know banning russian players is discriminatory but things like these put pressure on the government. Make general population go against the tyranny. All these sporting body they have influential prople in charge who need to wake up.
— kshitij bhatnagar (@bornkshitij) February 28, 2022
Whatever FIFA and UEFA decides shall set precedent
— Hope (@Bluemoonrisin9) February 28, 2022
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