Suddenly, everything happened very quickly. First the IOC spoke and soon FIFA followed, followed by other federations. The floodgates were opened and Russia’s place in the world of sport was history for the time being. For a long time, the powerful officials around IOC President Thomas Bach and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino hoped they could sit out the attack on Ukraine. An unrealistic assessment, which they corrected from Sunday under the pressure of the international community. The Polish Football Association PZPN and Robert Lewandowski, the captain of the Polish national team, are exemplary of this. They were the first to rebel against the fearful attitude of the major associations.

“FIFA has suspended Russia! The fight for the right cause was successful! We have shown that strength can come from solidarity,” tweeted PZPN President Cezary Kulesa in English, in a language he cannot speak but which had sent his word to every corner of the world several times in recent days: “We just did the right thing!”

On Sunday, things got really tight for Russian sports for the first time. FIFA had hidden the real news well when it announced the first sanctions against Russian soccer in a statement. “FIFA will continue dialogue with the IOC, #UEFA and other sports federations to determine additional measures or sanctions, including possible exclusion from competitions, to be applied in the near future should the situation not improve rapidly,” it said in technical language.

The map is redrawn

This was the sport’s great and final threat before the massive events this Monday that will re-sort world sport for years to come, and which were ultimately the last face-saving way out for the major federations and the IOC. The pressure on them had become too great and they now had to choose between Russia and the great rest of the world. In addition to soccer, numerous other sports sided against Russia throughout the day.

Putin’s war in Ukraine also redrew the map of sports. The consequences of the link between sport and politics, which can no longer be denied even for the organizations that have long put money above attitude and have always denied the influence of politics, must now be far-reaching and go far beyond the banishment ray for the Kremlin.

The story of Russia’s suspension is one that can only be told about the courage of the Polish Football Association PZPN and its national players. They should have faced the Russian selection on March 24 in Moscow as part of the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But they risked their dream of participating in the World Cup. They announced a boycott and rallied numerous federations behind them. There were too many for UEFA and FIFA to ignore. They could now choose either to stand with the aggressor or to stand against him.

Lewandowski in unfamiliar role

“Enough words, it’s time to act,” said Poland’s federation president Cezary Kulesa early Saturday. It was clear then that FIFA would not act. On Thursday, FIFA, in the person of President Gianni Infantino, had shown itself to be more than indecisive, hoping for an early end to the war against Ukraine. For a long time, the president was a useful idiot for Vladimir Putin, who wanted to put his country in the spotlight through numerous sporting events such as the 2018 World Cup. But Infantino’s pleas fell flat during the war. That’s why Poland acted. That’s why Kulesa acted, and also Robert Lewandowski, the captain of the national team.

Lewandowski until then was unsuspicious of having a political opinion. It seemed that he was only interested in his career. He freed himself from that. In the face of the horror in the neighboring country, he, the substitute captain of Bayern, appeared in the game at Eintracht Frankfurt wearing a bandage in the colors of Ukraine. “Russia’s footballers and fans” were “not responsible” for Putin’s warmongering, he later shared via Twitter: “But we can’t pretend nothing happened.” The words unfolded their effect. By then, even the two potential playoff opponents Sweden and the Czech Republic had long since spoken out against a game against Russia. No matter where, no matter under what conditions. That was out of the question for them.

The silence of the Germans

Soccer Bundesliga team RB Leipzig was a different story. The Saxons, who belong to the portfolio of Austrian right-winger Dietrich Mateschitz, were drawn against Spartak Moscow in the draw for the round of 16 of the second-tier Europa League last Friday. From then on, they blamed UEFA for the matches. The had already had all games of Russian teams moved to neutral ground in advance, but had not yet decided on an exclusion.

“We hope and trust for a peaceful resolution of the conflict as soon as possible. Regardless of this, we want to win against Spartak. We are the only Bundesliga club still represented in three competitions and want to go as far as possible in all of them, because our goal as a still young club is to sustainably establish ourselves in the top 20 in Europe,” Florian Scholz, the commercial director of the Saxons, announced as recently as Sunday.

And coach Domenico Tedesco was of the opinion that a boycott “always hits the wrong people.” Neutrality where attitude was required. Leipzig lacked that. For them it was about the Europa League, for Poland and the other associations it was about the World Cup. They are also in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. “For us, war in any form is unacceptable. We have always clearly underlined this position. UEFA today banned all matches with Russian clubs,” they announced after the decision.

For a long time, little was heard from the German Football Association either. It was not among the associations that publicly joined the boycott of the Poles. The currently leaderless DFB is too busy campaigning for next month’s upcoming presidential election. Not much was expected, and even less was heard. No one was really surprised. Criticism remained strangely quiet. When it was all over, the DFB welcomed the decision and expressed relief “that a joint decision has now been made, also in line with FIFA worldwide.”

Schalke and Gazprom

Early on, on the other hand, Schalke 04 had already become the focus of the often very excited public. In sports, it’s no different than in politics: Far-reaching decisions are supposed to be announced within a few minutes. The fact that this takes longer, too long for the public eager for consequences, could be observed on many levels in these first days of the war.

FC Schalke 04, which was struggling financially, reacted with caution, clarifying behind the scenes at an early stage how it could succeed in breaking away from main sponsor Gazprom. Just last summer, the latter had signed a new contract that was supposed to bring the Königsblauen 10 million euros per – Season . In the second league and at least twice as much in the first league. First they crossed the state-owned company off their chest and then out of their future. Gazprom had been with the Ruhr club for 15 years, and the deal had been engineered at the time by the powerful chairman of the supervisory board, Clemens Tönnies. Tönnies, who has since been forced out of the club, briefly brought himself back into the game as a savior. But the calls went almost unheard.

UEFA did not want any more either. Like Schalke 04 before it, it also parted company with state-owned Gazprom, which had played its way up to becoming the unmistakable face of the Champions League in the last decade, bringing in more than 40 million euros a year for the association and also sponsoring the 2024 European Championship in Germany. No more. History on this historic Monday, also for soccer. Sport has placed itself in the hands of autocrats and dictators.

The consequences now drawn from Russia’s war must lead to a purification process in the long term. The reaction to the war in Russia and also the liberation from Gazprom’s shackles can only be the beginning of this. Also on Sunday, it became known that former DFB president Theo Zwanziger is said to have been worked on by CIA methods by the upcoming and highly controversial World Cup host Qatar. A small side note in these warring days. One that soccer should not ignore.