Oleksandr Zinchenko highlights power of sport with Manchester City captaincy tribute as Paralympics shamed into banning Russia and Belarus – The Yorkshire Post says

Only the threat of a boycott by Team GB, and others, led to Russia and Belarus being expelled from the Paralympics, which begin in Beijing today, after their competitors were initially given permission to compete under a neutral flag.

Ukraine: World must act now or risk paying an even higher price for Putin’s wars – Tom Tugendhat

The International Paralympic Committee’s moral cowardice was also comparable with Fifa, world football’s supine governing body, which only banned Russia from all competitions, including World Cup qualifiers, after a backlash as the oligarch Romana Abramovich tries to sell Chelsea FC.

Even Formula 1, an organisation renowned for being tone-deaf to any threat to its commercial interests, has cancelled this year’s Russian Grand Prix and has no plans to return there in the foreseeable future – presumably it, too, is waiting for Kremlin regime change.

But these so-called guardians of sport would not be undertaking so many U-turns without the outpouring of moral support for Ukrainian’s competitors like a visibly emotional Oleksandr Zinchenko who was given the captaincy armband for Manchester City’s FA Cup clash with Peterborough.

And while sport can be a triviality at a time when Ukraine is fighting for its freedom, the solidarity of fans is empowering political and business leaders to ostracise Russia – and an evil dictator renowned for his self-aggrandisement at sports events.

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