Uefa must move Champions League final from St Petersburg; English clubs should consider boycott and Russia must be banned from World Cup – The Yorkshire Post says

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They were clearly of the view that major sporting events was one way of neutralising President Vladimir Putin’s threat to world peace after the resort of Sochi hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics before football’s World Cup was staged in Russia in 2018.

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Yet, for months, it’s been clear that Uefa’s decision was incompatible with President Putin’s autocracy. It’s even more misguided as Europe come to terms with some of its darkest hours since the Second World War after Russian forces menacingly invaded Ukraine, a democratic European country, in the early hours.

That Uefa has been so slow to respond to unfolding events, presumably because it remains in awe of the Kremlin and President Putin’s oligarchs, is yet another stain on its own questionable ethics and governance that have already been allowed to besmirch football’s reputation for too long.

And, if it can’t take the only conscionable, humanitarian and sporting decision open to it after the likes of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was amongst the first to urge a lethargic and gutless Uefa to act earlier this week, then it is to be hoped that the remaining clubs in the competition – including the Roman Abramovich-owned Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United – all vow to boycott any final in St Petersburg if they do ultimately qualify for the Champions League final (The Gazprom Arena is also where Gareth Southgate’s England side lost their third-place play-off match against Belgium in the last World Cup).

At the same time, Russia should be banned from all international sporting events – including next month’s high-profile World Cup qualifier with Poland that is due, currently, to go ahead in the shadow of war under the auspices of Fifa, football’s world rulers.

This is football’s chance to show solidarity with Ukraine and that country’s great players who have added so much to the so-called ‘beautiful game’. It should grasp it with both hands.

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