Our athletes would get banned even without Ukraine conflict, most Russians say
The majority of Russians think athletes from their homeland would be sanctioned by global sporting authorities regardless of the conflict with Ukraine, a new poll has indicated.
Russia and Belarus have been hit with a wave of sporting sanctions in the wake of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, leading to athletes and officials being ostracized from dozens of international tournaments.
Russia has adapted in some cases by holding its own events, such as the recent ‘We Are Together. Sport’ competition held in Siberia for banned Paralympic athletes.
Russian sporting officials have indicated they will welcome similar initiatives in future, inviting athletes from “friendly” nations to take part.
In a new poll run by Russian public opinion center VTsIOM, and with the results shared by TASS, almost a quarter (24%) of those surveyed said it was necessary to host events as alternatives to competitions from which Russian athletes are barred.
The vast majority of Russians (91%) said they are “more or less informed” about the suspension of Russian athletes and teams from competitions held by the likes of football organizations UEFA and FIFA.
More than half of those polled (62%) claimed that Russians would have been suspended from international competitions “in any case,” signaling the overriding belief that various federations already had it in for competitors from Russia.
Just under a third of those questioned (32%) believed that the real reason for the swathes of sanctions was solely the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.
In some cases, Russian sporting federations have launched appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland to overturn the bans, although bids from the likes of the Russian Football Union (RFU) have thus far been unsuccessful.
When asked if Russia should make such efforts “to restore athletes’ rights,” confidence appeared low with just 15% of the 1,600 people polled saying they should resort to such steps.
Almost half of those surveyed (48%) felt that attempts to reinstate Russian sporting rights should come in parallel to holding alternative international competitions in Russia.
