As we all know, the whole world reacted to Russia as a result of Russia's intervention in Ukraine. There can be no justification for starting a war. I understand the whole world's reaction to Russia.
There were also reactions and sanctions from the sports world against Russia. Premier League management suspended and terminated broadcasting rights in Russia. In addition to the sanctions, the Russian national anthem will not be played in international football matches, the name of the Russian national team will be changed to the Russian Union, and the Russian flag will not be shown before the matches.
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However, the subject of this article is not exactly the sanctions in football. I want to talk about sanctions in basketball. And I even want to criticize the sanctions in basketball. Of course, I will base these criticisms on serious grounds.
Euroleague management made a decision last week. According to this decision, three Russian basketball teams were removed from the Euroleague. These teams are CSKA Moscow, Zenit and UNICS Kazan teams.
It may be the right decision to remove these three teams from the Euroleague. This decision may have been taken for security reasons. It is very normal not to send the athletes and referees to the countries that are party to the war, not to wait for the spectators to fill the gyms, and to have security concerns during the match. I understand that the Euroleague administration took this decision to prevent them.
However, I want to ask, couldn't the Euroleague be completed without these three teams being kicked out of the league?
Of course it could be completed. If necessary, other sports halls in Europe could be allocated to these three teams and they could play their matches in safer places outside of Russia. Besides, I don't think professional players playing basketball in these teams are pro-war. This penalty is a penalty that has affected ordinary basketball fans and athletes more and is not suitable for the purpose of the penalty.
I would like to ask again, why were the matches played by these three teams until the start of the war canceled and these matches were considered as if they had never been played?
The matches played until the war started were official matches and the results were registered matches. Athletes struggled in these matches, sweated and experienced great excitement. These teams competed in the first 20 weeks of the Euroleague and most of the regular season was over. The penalty had consequences, as if these three teams did not participate in the entire league. The wins for the teams that were removed from the league were also not counted and the score table was reconstructed. This is wrong. It would have been more appropriate for the matches to remain valid and for the three expelled Russian teams to be deemed forfeited from the start of the war.
How did the Euroleague management make this decision? This decision was made by asking the teams competing in the league. While some teams said that the matches played by the Russian teams until the start of the war should be taken into account, the matches that will take place after the war began to be considered forfeited, while some teams said that no matches played by the Russian teams since the beginning of the season should be taken into account. I regret to say that each team has voted in a way that will carry itself to the top of the points ranking. They took purely self-interested approaches. This is against the spirit of the sport.
Do you know why I say that? I am also a sports person and I like to watch most kinds of sports and I like to support those who do sports. Because sports represent gentlemanliness, brotherhood and peace. Sport ends fights and opens the way for dialogue. Disputes are settled with sports. And more…
All over the world, sport serves good things. At least that's what we were taught. The decisions taken do not serve to reduce the severity of the crisis, on the contrary, they magnify the crisis. It does not make a positive contribution to the bad situation experienced.
In summary,
Russian teams should not have been expelled from the Euroleague. These teams could play their matches on neutral ground, in another country.
Let's say they were expelled, the matches played until the beginning of the war cannot and should not be ignored. At least the first 20 week matches should have been accepted as they were, the matches after the start of the war should have been forfeited.
Also, I definitely do not support the decisions to be banned from sports activities, I think that these decisions are against the peaceful spirit of sports.
Not all people of the country can be punished for the greedy policies of governments. Sports is above politics, the callous decisions of politicians should not affect sports, athletes and the people. That's why I find the decisions of the Euroleague administration far from protecting sports, I think it is a political decision.
I hope this war ends as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading.
