Russians such as Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva have made an unlikely impact on and off court after last year’s banIt has been a bounce-back tournament for Wimbledon: the crowds have returned and there’s a buzz around the grounds. The tennis has been engaging too, with the emergence of Carlos Alcaraz as a genuine contender and a series of upsets in the women’s draw. Among all the successes of the 2023 championships there is another, less welcome, winner, however, and that’s Russia.Russian players, alongside those from Belarus, were banned from participating in last year’s tournament after the invasion of Ukraine. This year, after Wimbledon found itself alone and under political and financial pressure, that position was reversed. Players could return...
Some governing bodies will allow athletes to compete if they distance themselves from the Putin regime, but is this fair on their Ukrainian opponents?When the horrors inflicted on Bucha’s residents emerged last week, the Russian grandmaster – and serial Vladimir Putin apologist – Sergey Karjakin was asked for his response. “Have you seen the pictures, Sergey?” the questioner probed on social media. “The senseless killings of innocent people. Men, women and children. Tortured by the Russian army. Bound hands behind their backs, and shot in the back of the head. Have you seen it, Sergey?”Karjakin, who represented Ukraine until 2009 before transferring his allegiance to Russia, had indeed seen the images. And his reply was chilling. “I wanted to say...
Trajectory has been downwards for some time and the country’s pariah status spells disaster for its clubs and national teamLast Saturday, Zenit St Petersburg beat Arsenal Tula 3-0 to stretch their lead at the top of the Russian Premier League over Dynamo Moscow to five points. Dynamo, managed by the German Sandro Schwarz, needed a last-minute penalty to salvage a draw at home to Rostov, while in Nizhny Novgorod, the Italian coach Paolo Vanoli threw on Victor Moses at half-time as his Spartak Moscow side drew 1-1.But this is another world now. Foreign involvement lingers, but these are games that feel as if they are happening in a different reality. There will almost certainly be no European football for Russian...
The Kyiv Death Match of 1942 has resonance in the present context of conflict but its significance is complexJosef Kordik was sitting in a cafe in Kyiv when a bedraggled man on the street caught his eye. That, he was sure, was Myklova Trusevych, the great Dynamo goalkeeper. He rushed outside. It was spring 1942, a few months after the city had fallen to the Nazis.Kordik was a Moravian who had been left behind after fighting for Austria-Hungary in the first world war. He had not enjoyed his new life and watching football had been his only joy, but the occupation had meant opportunity. He had falsely claimed Volksdeutsch status and been installed as manager of Bakery Number 1. Continue...
Governing bodies are using weasel words, instead of the plain ones needed: invasion, war, murderEarly last Thursday, overcome by the desire to do something, anything, however petty, to try to fight off that sense of desperate futility, I started sending out emails to the sports federations who had events scheduled in Russia this year asking if they were going to cancel them. There were already reports that Uefa was talking about moving the Champions League final, later that day the FIA announced it was cancelling the Russian GP, and Rugby Europe that it was calling off Russia’s upcoming match against Georgia. A lot of the Olympic sports, though, were moving a little more slowly.Fina, which was due to hold two...