Australian sports figures have weighed in on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, as the community global moves to punish Russia for an invasion that has now entered its sixth day.
Athletes and sports groups have condemned the country, led by President Vladimir Putin, for launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week. They have also taken aim at Belarus, which has been a launchpad for invading Russian troops.
The attack has sparked new recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), urging sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events.
Other groups have gone further than recommendations and have suspended teams from these countries from their competitions.
Australian former Paralympian Kurt Fearnley said the sporting world was "trying to speak with authority and purpose" as a growing number of groups sanction Russian and Belarusian teams.
Australian Paralympian gold medallist Kurt Fearnley. Credit: AAP
He said "there are no great choices left" for the IPC when deciding whether to let Russian and Belarusian athletes compete.
He said he would be sad if athletes from these two countries were not able to compete as he questioned how much power and influence they have to stop the conflict.
"But what about all the Ukrainians that aren't able to be there that are still stuck in conflict right now?" he said.
"There's no good choice; there's no good outcome. It's a tough spot to be in for the sporting and Paralympic worlds."
Australian former Olympic athlete Jane Flemming said she supported the IOC recommendations "because the Olympic movement stands for peace".
She said if sporting bodies did not boycott Russia, athletes representing countries that oppose the invasion will take a stand.
"If the IOC didn't ban them ... and countries and organisations like FIFA, we know that the individual countries and teams and athletes will boycott international sport anyway."
Ukrainian head coach of the Australian Olympic sailing team Victor Kovalenko said while his full concentration is usually placed in his sports, he can't stop thinking about his home country.
"Now it's a little bit different because some part of my heart and some part of my energy is involved in helping Ukraine as a country," he said.
"I'm not only reading the weather and thinking of current and wind and the spin and speed of the boards, also, but I'm also following what happens in Ukraine."
Ukrainian head coach of the Australian Olympic sailing team Victor Kovalenko. Source: AAP / AAP
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
Here's how other sporting groups have reacted:
International Olympic Committee
Along with recommending a ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events, the IOC has also said that the national flags of these countries should not be displayed at international sports.
The IOC said the executive board made the decision "in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants" and that the body was acting with a "heavy heart".
The Russian Olympic Committee categorically disagreed with the IOC, saying the decision "contradicts both the regulatory documents of the IOC and the [Olympic] Charter".
The IOC also said it had taken the ad hoc decision to withdraw the Olympic Order from all persons who currently have an important function in the government of the Russian Federation, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Olympic Order is the highest award granted by the Olympic movement and Putin was the recipient of a gold honour in 2001.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Dmitry Kozak, deputy chief of staff of the presidential executive office, have also been stripped of their titles.
The Australian Olympic Committee supports the IOC's stance, the group's CEO Matt Carroll said on Tuesday.
Mr Carroll said members sports were being urged not to invite teams, athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus, and invitations that have been issued should be rescinded.
He also called for the withdrawal of Australian athletes and officials from any sporting events the two countries may participate in.
“I am writing to all our members today to convey this position and to get a sense of which sports may be impacted by this recommendation," Mr Carroll said in a statement on Tuesday.
FIFA and UEFA
FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have suspended Russia's national teams and clubs from international football until further notice.
The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year's World Cup and the women's Euro 2020 tournament.
"FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice," UEFA said in a statement.
"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters," they added.
Russia was scheduled to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff on 24 March and if they remain suspended at that time, they would be out of the World Cup and unable to progress to the finals in Qatar in November.
The Polish Football Association had said that they will refuse to play against the Russian team and the Czech Republic and Sweden, who are in the same playoff 'path', had also ruled out facing Russia.
The only way Russia could still feature in the playoffs would be a sudden improvement in the situation in Ukraine leading to a lifting of the suspension.
In a statement, the Russian Football Federation said it "categorically disagreed" with the decision of FIFA and UEFA and that it was contrary to the "spirit of sports".
Hockey
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Monday suspended Russian and Belarusian teams from its competitions until further notice and revoked Russia's 2023 World Junior Championship hosting rights.
USA Hockey backed the IIHF's decision, and Hockey Canada said it would bar Russia and Belarus from taking part in events in Canada, including those that do not fall under the IIHF’s jurisdiction.
The National Hockey League (NHL) in North America has suspended ties with its Russian business partners, and condemned the invasion in Ukraine, days after Alex Ovechkin, the Russian captain of the Washington Capitals and one of the league's most prolific goal scorers, called for peace.
Taekwondo
Mr Putin has been stripped of his honorary taekwondo black belt over his country's invasion of Ukraine, a personal rebuke heaped on top of international economic and sporting sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin received a black belt and a uniform from Choue Chung-won, president of the World Taekwondo Federation on 13 November 2013. Source: AAP / WTF/EPA
World Taekwondo, citing its motto of "Peace is More Precious than Triumph", condemned the Russian military action in Ukraine, saying the "brutal attacks on innocent lives" violated the sport's values of respect and tolerance.
"In this regard, World Taekwondo has decided to withdraw the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to Mr Vladimir Putin in November 2013," the governing body said in a statement.
It added that it would join the IOC in banning the Russian flag and anthem at its events.
The decision comes after the International Judo Federation said it would suspend Mr Putin's status as honorary president and ambassador "in light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine".
Tennis
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina said she would not play her round of 32 match against Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the Monterrey Open unless tennis' governing bodies followed the recommendations made by the IOC.
"We Ukrainian players requested to ATP [Association of Tennis Professionals], WTA [Women's Tennis Association] and ITF [International Tennis Federation] to follow the recommendations of the IOC to accept Russian or Belarusian nationals only as neutral athletes, without displaying any national symbols, colours, flags or anthems," Svitolina said.
"Accordingly, I want to announce that I will not play tomorrow in Monterrey, nor any other match against Russian or Belarusian tennis players until our organizations take this necessary decision."
In a separate but similar statement earlier on Monday, Ukrainian women's tennis players including Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko called on the WTA to pull all tournaments from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The ITF has postponed its World Tennis Tour M15 event that was set to take place in Ukraine in April, and has cancelled all events that were to take place on Russian soil.
Rugby, swimming, badminton and more
World Rugby suspended Russia and Belarus from all international rugby and cross-border club rugby activities and suspended the Rugby Union of Russia from World Rugby membership, a move it said was in line with the IOC recommendations.
Badminton's world governing body cancelled all sanctioned tournaments in Russia and Belarus, adding that no other badminton tournaments will be allocated to those regions until further notice.
Swimming Australia (SA) has declared it will boycott the World Short Course Championships in Russia.
Despite the championships in Kazan being scheduled for December, the sporting body has made it known it will refuse to send teams to any events in Russia.
It follows FINA's decision on Sunday to cancel the World Junior Championships in the same Russian city in August.
SA has strongly condemned the actions of the Russian government and Mr Putin.
"The decision not to send our athletes to Russia is based on safety reasons first and foremost," SA boss Eugenie Buckley said.
"We would also like to see FINA consider relocating these events to alternate locations so our swimmers have the opportunity to race in a safe environment."
SA will plan to organise an alternate meeting for its junior swimmers, partnering with other swimming organisations in the southern hemisphere and Asia.
Meanwhile, the World Curling Federation began the process of removing the Russian federation's entries from the World Championships.
Ukraine's motorsports federation called on Formula One's governing FIA to ban all Russian and Belarusian licence holders from taking part in its competitions, which if accepted could put Russia's Nikita Mazepin out of the sport.
The International Skating Union announced that competitors from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to compete at its international events until further notice.
The International Equestrian Federation executive board called for all international events to be removed from Russia and Belarus.
With additional reporting by John Baldock and David Aidone.
