In the last month, news and media outlets have been focused on one central conflict: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The response of sports organizations to this conflict is one that has drawn a lot of opinions. Sports federations, small and large, have banned Russian teams and athletes from competing. This includes the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), International Skating Union, International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Ice Hockey Federation and many other groups. While people feel that these policies are unfair to the athletes, the sports world needs to make a statement and penalize Russia for its actions. 

These current bans go beyond what past bans have done. In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from competing in any international sport for four years. Due to Russian appeals, this ban only prevented Russian athletes from competing with the name, flag or emblem for two years. Russian athletes were instead forced to compete as “neutral athletes or teams.” In the 2022 Olympics, Russia proved that this ban did little to stop them. A Russian figure skater was found to be using drugs that enhanced her abilities despite the past punishment. The purpose of the ban was to make sure no future Russian athletes used performance-enhancing drugs, and yet they still did. This shows that just stripping athletes of their Russian titles will have little to no effect, and we must go past that and completely ban the athletes, something which plenty of organizations have already done. 

Many Russians involved in sports have strongly disagreed with these policies. This includes Dmitry Svishchev, a member of the Russian committee that oversees sports. Svishchev told the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), that “international sports organizations should not have entered the political arena.” However, other athletes from all over the world disagree with this statement. 

In a statement released by the Global Athlete, Ukrainian athletes called for the IOC and International Paralympics Committee (IPC) to suspend Russian and Belarusian Olympic and Paralympic teams from competing in the Paralympics. Ukrainian athletes were not alone in this fight, as various athletes joined them in their efforts.

Furthermore, Ukrainian athletes should not be forced to play against athletes representing a country currently attacking innocent citizens in their homeland. Additionally, Russian athletes should not have the opportunity to bring such great pride back to their country. A ban is not meant to punish athletes; rather, it is to punish all of Russia for their actions and hopefully affect future Russian decisions regarding the war. 

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko even admitted how important sports are to the Russian people in a sports ministry meeting earlier this month. This indicates that taking away international sports negatively affects not only Russian athletes but the entire country at large. Because of how highly Russians value their athletics, the ban is crucial, and it should not be lifted until the Russian government halts its unprecedented attack on the Ukrainian people.

It goes without saying that countries in conflict must always receive aid from bystanding countries. In this instance, the Ukrainian people have been caught in a horrible situation and need as much international support as possible. Close to 600 innocent civilians have been killed in this war. Along with providing aid and donation to Ukraine, this is a large way that the world can give back to the families of these victims and the rest of Ukraine. While there are different actions that the world can take, banning Russian sports, a source of Russian entertainment and national pride, is just one small step to help the victims of this unnecessary war.

This war is affecting every aspect of Ukrainians’ lives, so the only right thing to do is make it affect every aspect of Russians’ lives. In the open letter to the IOC, Ukrainian athletes said “athletes, our countrymen, our families and our friends are in grave danger as a result (of) this aggressive assault by Russia and Belarus on our country.” They continued on to say “make no mistake, athletes in Ukraine are united in this call.” We must listen to Ukrainian athletes and protect their country by banning Russian teams and athletes from competing.