Football forays into Russia-Ukraine conflict with UEFA probe

Politics and sports, the twain shall always meet. With Europe’s football governing body taking exception to pro-Russia sloganeering in a football match in Ankara on Wednesday, football has waded into the ongoing Ukraine conflict, writes Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi:Regardless of the Utopian ideal of keeping sports and politics separate, the realm of sports is never too far removed from the topsy-turvy world of politics. Even in the ancient phase of the Olympics Games in Greece which lasted about 12 centuries, the glory of the city-states was associated with the champions.

In modern times, from the “black fist salute” by US athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 to the boycott of the Games by respective power blocs, politics has been a common refrain. It is but natural therefore that the political dynamics of the day finding expression in the sports arena—and in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict—is no exception.

Taking suo motu cognizance of 20-seconds-long pro-Russian sloganeering in a Champions League qualifying football match between a Turkish and a Ukrainian team, the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), the governing body of football in Europe, has waded in to order investigations. The match, a Champions League qualifier, took place on Wednesday between Fenerbahce, a Turkish club and Dynamo Kyiv, a premier Ukrainian club.

The sloganeering happened when Dynamo Kyiv took a 2-1 lead in extra-time play effectively outing the Turkish club from the competition as Fenerbahce supporters chanted out Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name. With Dynamo Kyiv protesting amid an online backlash demanding action against the Turkish club, UEFA has ordered a probe by an “Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector”.

In a statement on Thursday, Fenerbahce, underlining that it was against the war in Ukraine, said the pro-Putin chants were made by fans who did not represent the club, its position, or its views. But there is another side to the development. Known to be a problem child within the US-led NATO, Turkey has been at odds with its NATO partners in many instances.

Turkey is a rare case of sanctions being imposed upon a key NATO member for buying Russian weapons and systems, the culprit, in this case, being the powerful S-400 air defence and missile system. On the other hand, the US has announced a waiver for non-NATO member India for having purchased the same from the Russians.

Turkey is also angered by the supportive role of many NATO and EU countries for the many Kurds who seek autonomy or full independence from Turkey with the Kurdish armed organization Kurdistan Workers’ Party (popularly known as the PKK) leading an insurgency. Kurds number about 14 million in Turkey.

Said Prof Kumar Sanjay Singh, an analyst who teaches history at a Delhi University college: “Sports is a major way of channelizing popular opinion or popular nationalism. It is indicative of the public mood in a particular country or region. In the present context of sloganeering in Ankara, the popular mood may be indicative of an anti-West and anti-US inclination that is a legacy issue. Historically, the Turkish have had an ambivalent relationship with the West from 14th -15th century Europe onwards.”

Russian military forces forayed into Ukraine on February 24 in what is called a “special forces operation”. In the more than 150 days since then, the conflict zone has seen massive bombing by both sides on an unprecedented scale resulting in a large number of casualties including more than 12,000 civilian and non-combatant casualties.