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It is often said that "sport makes politics go away", but in the face of major political events, sports can never be left alone. Affected by the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, UEFA officially announced on February 25 that the final of this season's Champions League, which was scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be held in a different place.
With the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, the fighting between Russia and Ukraine has begun in full swing. In response to Russia's launch of a "special military operation" in Ukraine, the IOC previously issued a statement strongly condemning the Russian government's violation of the Olympic Truce, and IOC President Bach reiterated his call for peace on the same day. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce on 2 December 2021, which begins seven days before the opening of the Olympic Games on 4 February 2022 and ends seven days after the closure of the Paralympic Games.
Similarly, FIFA and UEFA have also condemned the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In particular, UEFA, which is dominated by Western countries, has not only condemned it, but also begun to take corresponding measures against Russia. In fact, this is not the first time that football has been involved in political issues related to Russia, in 2014, the unknown Crimean regional team became the focus of the entire European football world.
On March 18, 2014, the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea decided to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation by a referendum of more than 96 percent in favour. Although this matter is not happy by the Western countries led by the United States, because the form of secession from Ukraine is the so-called "democratic referendum", the Western countries do not have much to do. However, this does not mean that the contest between various forces will end here, for example, at the football level, there is a problem of the "identity" of the Crimean regional football team.
Sevastopol team
With the addition of Crimea to Russia, the three Crimean regional clubs that had played in the Ukrainian Premier League also bid farewell to the Ukrainian Premier League. The three clubs are Sevastopol, Pearls Yalta and Simferopol. At first, the three clubs competed in the Russian Cup, and at the same time, the Russian Football Federation was ready to include these three clubs in the third division of the Russian league.
However, this was immediately opposed by the Ukrainian side, which complained to FIFA and UEFA at the same time. Then UEFA Secretary-General Infantino (now FIFA President) said the international community did not recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea and that UEFA's statutes prohibited clubs from changing associations without consent. "After discussing this issue with Ukraine and Russia and ukraine and the Russian Football Federation, the UEFA Executive Board came to the conclusion that Crimea must be seen as a special area of football," Infantino said. "This even began to affect the right to host the 2018 World Cup that Russia has already obtained. Eventually, Crimea launched a regional league under the supervision of UEFA, with five other amateur teams participating in addition to the three teams mentioned above. Last season's Crimean league title was Sevastopol.
The Guardian: Crimean teams could cause Russia to lose the right to host the World Cup
Today, a similar situation is in front of Top Ukrainian league teams such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Dawn Luhansk, and Mariupol. On February 21, local time, after Russian President Putin signed presidential decrees recognizing the "Donetsk People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic", the two regions instantly became the focus of global attention.
For fans, "Donetsk" is very familiar because of the Ukrainian Super League team Shakhtar Donetsk. The donetsk miners' home stadium was originally in Donetsk, and they once had a home stadium that could accommodate 50,000 people , the Donbass Arena. However, beginning in April 2014, armed clashes between pro-Russian militias in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions with Ukrainian militias and government forces ended with the conclusion of the Minsk agreement in February 2015. But the Stadium at Bath Athletic was badly damaged by two large-scale bombings during the conflict. In desperation, the miners first went to lviv, a city in western Ukraine, 600 kilometers away, and then to Kharkiv, a city close to Donetsk, and in the 2020 season, the miners came to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Despite being on the move, the miners' results were outstanding. Not only is it the hegemonic team of the Ukrainian Super League, but it also defeated Real Madrid in the 2020 Champions League season.
In the face of politics and war, sports are extremely small. According to the latest news, Russian troops have entered the city of Kiev, and I am afraid that not many people will think that many of the miners are still in the city. Brazilian players and their families playing for Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev took refuge in a Hotel in Kiev on Feb. 24. They asked the Brazilian government for help via video. Brazilian centre-back Malón Santos of the miners' team said there was currently a shortage of fuel in the city of Kiev, the border was closed and the airspace had been closed. Brazilian foreign aid could not go out, and they asked for help from the Brazilian government. Santos said: "We are very desperate, we are going through a mess. We had the full support of our club, but the situation was desperate. We want to have the support of our country, and we speak on behalf of all Brazilians in Ukraine. It is worth mentioning that Brazilian foreign player Moras, who once played in Tianjin, is also currently playing for miners.
Judging from the current situation, Russian troops have the advantage in this military operation. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has asked for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has also made the decision to send a negotiating team to negotiate.
Crimea's Sevastopol team is unknown, and has even been forced to cancel and then change its name and restart, but they still have league games to play. Hopefully, after this crisis, the Miners will be able to return to the field no matter where they are...