The International Ski Federation decided to move competitions from Russia

International Ski Federation: All competitions in Russia under the auspices of the International Ski Federation (FIS) will be rescheduled. The federation announced this decision on Friday, February 25, on its (fis-ski.com) website. “Following joint consultations with its stakeholders, FIS has decided that, in the interests of the safety of all participants and the integrity of the World Cup, all remaining World Cup events to be held from now until the end of the 2021-2022 season will be canceled or relocated to another country.”  — noted in the FIS.

Thus, a number of federation competitions, which were agreed to be held in the Russian Federation, are cancelled.

International Ski Federation Dates are

FIS Ski Cross World Cup
25-27 February, Sunny Valley (RUS)

FIS Aerials World Cup
26-27 February, Yaroslavl (RUS)

FIS Aerials World Cup
5 March, Moscow (RUS)

FIS Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup
18-20 March, Nizhny Tagil (RUS)

FIS Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup
25-27 March Chaikovsky (RUS)

FIS Cross Country World Cup
18-20 March, Tyumen (RUS)

The International Ski Federation decided to move competitions from Russia

In particular, the season finale of the World Cup in cross-country skiing, scheduled for the period from 18 to 20 March in Tyumen, has been cancelled.

According to Sport-Express, in February it was planned to hold the FIS World Cup in acrobatics, the FIS World Cup in ski cross, in March – the World Cup in ski jumping, as well as the FIS World Cup in women’s ski jumping.

On the same day, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced that the 2022 Champions League (Champions League) final was moved from St. Petersburg to France. The match will take place at the Stade de France in the suburbs of Paris.

As The New York Times clarifies on Friday, February 25, this condition currently applies to one club match – the game of Spartak Moscow in the Europa League.

The final game of the Champions League was to be held on May 28 at the Gazprom Arena stadium in St. Petersburg. On February 24, the Associated Press, citing a source, reported on UEFA’s plans to postpone it due to Russia conducting a special military operation in the Donbass and recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’ independence (DPR and LPR). Prior to this, a group of MEPs had asked UEFA to postpone the match.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a special televised address on February 24, indicated that a special operation would be carried out in the Donbass in order to safeguard the civilian population. The Russian president stated that Russia had no choice but to respond, and that its actions are not related to infringing on Ukraine’s interests, but rather to defending itself against “those who have taken Ukraine hostage.”

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian International Ski Federation Dmitry Peskov clarified that the special operation has two goals – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.

Prior to that, on February 21, the Russian leader signed a decree recognizing the independence of the DNR and LNR. This was done against the background of a sharp escalation of the situation in the Donbass and intensified shelling of the positions of the people’s republics by the armed forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military campaign against the residents of Donbass since 2014, because they refused to acknowledge the coup d’état’s results and the new government in Ukraine. Kiev, on the other hand, blames Moscow for the current scenario. Russia has maintained that it is not a party to the conflict on numerous occasions.