Jurisprudence studies and cultural law

Jurisprudence studies and cultural law

Challenges of violation of neutrality in sports competitions from the perspective of the culture of humanitarian rights (case study: exclusion of Russia in the attack on Ukraine)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mehdi Meyhami 1
Esmaeil Shahsavandi 2
1 Assistant Professor of Department of private Law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran.
2 Corresponding author, Assistant Professor of Department of International trade law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/cjls.2024.2040644.1012
Abstract
Russia's war with Ukraine was so shocking that it brought a quick reaction from the sports community, and one after another, sports bodies condemned Russia's action in encroaching on Ukraine's territory and sanctioned this country in order to have a decisive reaction to this war and Russia's behavior. The first institution that reacted to this incident was FIFA, which together with UEFA banned Russian football. In response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, the European Football Federation together with FIFA has decided to ban all existing club teams as well as the Russian national teams from participating in matches under the supervision of these two institutions. Therefore, in addition to the exclusion of Russia from the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, this law will also be implemented in the Champions League and Europa League matches, which reflected the consequences and global reaction to this matter. Also, UEFA has decided to end its cooperation with the Russian company Gazprom in the European Champions League, UEFA national competitions and Euro 2024. Adidas also officially announced the termination of cooperation with the Russian Football Federation. With the announcement of Adidas, this company has cut off its cooperation with the Russian Football Federation following the war between Russia and Ukraine and will no longer be responsible for supplying the uniforms of the Russian national football team. Meanwhile, Adidas has been a sponsor of the Russian national team shirt since 2008. In this article, the violation of the neutrality of sports in a political event was discussed from the aspect of international law with an analytical approach, and the double standard that has appeared in this regard has been discussed and investigated.
Keywords
humanitarian rights
sports culture
FIFA
conflicts
principle of neutrality
double standard
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Jurisprudence studies and cultural law
Volume 1, Issue 2
October 2024
Pages 295-313