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Ukraine invasion puts Russia’s elite sports status at risk

FILE - Everton players hold Ukrainian flags before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File) FILE - Teams pay a minute of silence for the people in Ukraine during a German Bundesliga soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, Germany, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File) FILE - Benfica's Darwin Nunez, left, helps teammate Roman Yaremchuk, from Ukraine, take off his shirt after scoring his side's second goal, to reveal an undershirt with the coat of arms of Ukraine, also known as tryzub, during the Champions League round of 16, first leg, soccer match between Benfica and Ajax at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File) FILE - Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after competing in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. Valieva tested positive for using a banned heart medication, and the result wasn't announced by anti-doping officials until after she'd won gold as part of the team competition, even though the sample was taken weeks earlier. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) FILE - A member of the Russian Olympic Committee points to the team's logo during the venue award ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File) FILE - Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. Putin and leaders before him have tried to cultivate an image of a prosperous country fortified by strong athletes who beat their international opponents in the games people play. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) FILE - Drivers compete during the Russian Formula One Grand Prix, at the Sochi Autodrom circuit, in Sochi, Russia, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. A number of federations, including skiing, curling and Formula 1, pulled premier events out of Russia following the invasion. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - A view of the St. Petersburg Stadium prior to the Confederations Cup, Group A soccer match between Russia and New Zealand, Saturday, June 17, 2017. Russia has been stripped of hosting the Champions League final by UEFA with St. Petersburg replaced by Paris after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The men's final will still be held on May 28 but now at the 80,000-seat Stade de France after the decision by UEFA's executive committee. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File) FILE - Edwin Moses, chairman of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, speaks at a news conference during a White House event aimed at reforming the World Anti-Doping Agency, in Washington on Oct. 31, 2018. Moses, the American gold-medal hurdler who had a key role in sorting through the Russian scandals, recalled trying to explain Moscow's point of view to anti-doping leaders. "One thing I was always trying to get across to them was, 'You don't understand how important sports are to them,'" Moses said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - Spectators look at the Olympic Cauldron as the sun sets at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. The invasion of Ukraine could further undermine Russia's status as an elite sports dynasty, which already has been weakened by deception and doping scandals but often punished only by a tepid pushback from international sports bodies. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) FILE - A man walking past the Russian Olympic Committee building casts a shadow on a window in Moscow, Russia on Nov. 18, 2015. The invasion of Ukraine could further undermine Russia's status as an elite sports dynasty, which already has been weakened by deception and doping scandals but often punished only by a tepid pushback from international sports bodies. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
Ukraine invasion puts Russia’s elite sports status at risk