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Tag: Russia-Ukraine war

Sports

Soldiers watching from the trenches, families stuck in war-torn regions: Ukraine battle adversity to qualify for Euro 2024

Mykhailo Mudryk went down on his knees and prayed after the full-time whistle. Around the Ukraine winger, a sea of yellow and blue exploded in ecstasy.At ‘home’ in Wroclaw, Poland, the war-torn country defeated Iceland to qualify for the Euro 2024, their first major tournament since Russia invaded the country in 2022. They came very close to qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar two years ago. Back then, Wales crushed their dream at the last minute, leaving the players in tears. There were tears on Tuesday night as well. This time, of joy. 🇺🇦💛#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/82W2NTdSvc — UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 28, 2024 As the thousands of Ukrainians celebrated the historic win inside the stadium in Poland, millions more at home, who have had very little to cheer about since the inv...
Sports

Champions League: Ukrainian fans feel at home and aim to raise awareness of their country in Germany

For Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion, a soccer stadium can feel like a home from home. Unable to play at its actual home because of the war, Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk is playing its Champions League home games in the German city of Hamburg this season, starting with a 3-1 loss to Porto on Tuesday. Ukrainian supporters said it was a chance to raise awareness of Ukraine and provided a sense of community against the backdrop of the war. “We have a difficult situation but despite that we come and show support because we are very proud of our team,” Valentyna Sushko, who is from the city of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine and has been living in Hamburg since shortly after the invasion last year, told The Associated Press. “I would like to say thank you to Hamburg for g...
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Ukraine fencer Olga Kharlan disqualified after refusing to shake hands with Russian opponent

Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan has been disqualified after refusing to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova at the World Championships in Milan on Thursday. Kharlan, a four-time Olympic medallist and world champion, won the individual sabre bout 15-7 and then refused to shake hands with her opponent, instead offering her sabre to tap blades. Smirnova remained on the piste for over half an hour after the incident, speaking with a number of officials before leaving. Ukrainian athletes in other sports – including tennis players Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk – have also refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow using Belarus as a staging ground for what it calls a “special military operation”. In fencing’s rules, sh...
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Ukrainian athletes should have chance to qualify for Paris Games: IOC

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday appealed to Ukraine to give their athletes the chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics despite a partial ban on competing against Russian and Belarusian athletes. IOC President Thomas Bach said the Olympic body would support “every Ukrainian athlete” who wanted to take part in Olympic qualifying events in their respective sport. “We want to make it possible for every Ukrainian athlete to qualify now and participate in the Olympic Games,” Bach said at the start of an IOC session. “We will support every Ukrainian athlete in their preparation and participation in any competition they want to take part in,” he said. Ukraine in March banned its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that i...
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Elina Svitolina criticises ‘useless’ WTA amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine | Tennis News – Times of India

PARIS: Ukrainian players do not get enough support from women's tennis governing body WTA amid Russia's invasion of their country, Elina Svitolina said on Tuesday.Svitolina, back on the tour at the Charleston Open after a maternity break, spoke to support fellow Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko, who said she withdrew from the Indian Wells tournament because of a panic attack brought on by a conversation the 33-year-old had days earlier with WTA chief executive Steve Simon about tennis's response to the Russian invasion."We are afraid, we feel empty. What is happening to Lesia is very sad. People who haven't experienced it can't really understand what it feels like to have no home, to feel safe nowhere, to have family in Ukraine, under the bombs, to know that Ukrainian cities are being de...
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Aryna Sabalenka says WTA doing its best to support players amid tensions due to war

World number two Aryna Sabalenka said the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was doing a good job of supporting players from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus amid tensions in the locker room following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from her match with Belarusian Sabalenka at Indian Wells due to what she said was a panic attack triggered by a chat with WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon about tennis’s response to Russia’s invasion. Belarus has been a staging ground for what Moscow calls a “special military operation”. The top-ranked Iga Swiatek called for more support to be offered to Ukrainian players after Tsurenko’s pullout and said the actions taken by the tennis leadership was not enough. “Nobody can control the emotions of others. I think the WTA ar...
Sports

‘Your people are fighting there, you have to fight in the court… have to win the match’: Ukraine’s Vladyslav Orlov after playing Russian Alibek Kachmazov at Chennai Challenger

Even by Chennai standards, the 310 Celsius felt a lot more on Monday especially when Ukraine’s Vladyslav Orlov faced Russia’s Alibek Kachmazov in the qualifying draw of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger. The two countries are still engaged in a war, which has led to 7,155 civilian deaths in Ukraine alone and as the two faced each other – thousands of miles away – there was eerie silence that you don’t find inside the court. If that was telling, the scene at the end where Kachmazov prevailed 6-4, 7-6 had an even bigger message as the two didn’t shake hands post finishing. Although he wasn’t at his fluent best on court, off the court Orlov spoke on what it felt to play against a Russian amidst the ongoing war back home. “If it was up to me, of course I would ban them because it’s not normal...