From football to F1, Russia stands to lose after Ukraine invasion

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was condemned by the global sporting community on Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin's country set to lose hosting rights for the prestigious Champions League final while Formula One drivers said it was "wrong" to race there this year.

Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, sea and air on Thursday, sparking immediate sporting ramifications.

UEFA will no longer host the Champions League final in St Petersburg after Russia, AP reported.

An extraordinary meeting of the UEFA executive committee will be held on Friday to discuss the geopolitical crisis and when officials are set to confirm taking the May 28 showpiece game out of Russia, a person with knowledge of the process said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.

The showcase game in European club football was set to be held at Zenit St Petersburg's stadium, known as the Gazprom Arena after a sponsorship deal with Russia's state energy company, which also sponsors the Champions League.

"UEFA shares the international community's significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine," the governing body said in a statement.

"We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people."

German football club Schalke 04 have had a 15-year partnership with Gazprom but said they were removing the firm's logo from their jersey while Matthias Warnig, chief executive of Nord Stream 2 AG, vacated his position on the club's board of directors. Nord Stream 2 AG is owned by Gazprom.

The men's tennis governing body said next week's ATP Challenger event in Moscow will not take place as scheduled due to concerns over player safety and uncertainty related to international travel.

"The security of players will remain our top priority in assessing the scheduling of subsequent ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events in the region. We continue to monitor the situation," the ATP said in a statement.

'I should not go'

Athletes from a number of sports also voiced their concerns about travelling to Russia.

Four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel said he will not take part in September's grand prix in Sochi, adding it was "wrong" to race in Russia. World champion Max Verstappen agreed with him.

"My own opinion is I should not go," Vettel said. "I'm sorry for the innocent people that are losing their lives, that are getting killed for stupid reasons and a very, very strange and mad leadership."

US-owned Formula One team Haas will remove Russian potash producer Uralkali's branding from its car and run it in an all-white livery on the final day of Barcelona testing on Friday, the team said, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Haas have run their cars in a Russian flag livery with Uralkali stickers since last season as part of a title sponsorship deal, which has secured funding for the team and seen company owner and billionaire Dmitry Mazepin's son Nikita signed to a race seat.

The team said the 22-year-old Russian, who races alongside Mick Schumacher and drove on the opening two days of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, will take part in the morning session on Friday as planned.

"Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday, 25 February," the outfit said in a statement on Thursday.

"Nikita Mazepin will drive as planned in the morning session with Mick Schumacher taking over in the afternoon.

"No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements," it added.

The sport's governing body said it was monitoring the situation, but said nothing about potentially moving the Russian Grand Prix.

Olympic truce breached

The invasion was also condemned by the International Olympic Committee which said the Russian government had breached the Olympic truce currently in effect until after next month's Winter Paralympic Games.

Russia has now violated the Olympic truce three times in 14 years.

It fought a war with Georgia over the disputed territory of South Ossetia during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and launched a military takeover that annexed the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics closed.

The International Paralympic Committee condemned Russia and said it held talks with sports officials in Ukraine, which still plans to compete in Beijing and requires safe passage for its athletes.

'Pray for us': Stranded in Ukraine

The invasion has had an impact on sporting events in Ukraine.

Football matches in the country's Premier League have been suspended due to the imposition of martial law, leaving Shakhtar Donetsk's Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi, his staff and 13 Brazilian players stranded.

"We could have gone home as long as there was security but instead we waited. Last night the explosions woke us up. This morning they suspended the season," De Zerbi told Italpress.

Brazilian-born Ukrainian forward Junior Moraes said they were "prisoners in Kyiv" while waiting for a solution to get out of the country.

"Pray for us," he wrote on Instagram.

'No war in Ukraine'

In the Europa League on Thursday, Ukraine international Ruslan Malinovskyi reveal a shirt under his jersey after scoring the first of his two goals for Atalanta against Olympiacos that read "No war in Ukraine".

The powerful statement from the 28-year-old midfielder occurred in the 66th minute of the match.

Malinovskyi's Ukraine national teammate Roman Yaremchuk had made a gesture of support for their homeland in the Champions League on Wednesday, when he showed the nation's coat of arms during a goal celebration.

Military escalation

A joint statement from the football associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic called for next month's World Cup play-offs not be played in Russia.

"The signatories to this appeal do not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there," the statement said.

"The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations."

Poland are due to play in Russia on March 24 with the winners hosting either Sweden or the Czechs five days later.

EuroLeague Basketball, which has teams from several countries including Russia, said the competition would continue as scheduled unless governmental decisions prevent games from taking place.

Bayern Munich said their EuroLeague match against CSKA Moscow had been postponed.

World Athletics condemned the Russian invasion and said president Sebastian Coe had contacted senior vice-president Sergey Bubka and the Ukrainian Athletics Federation to offer support.