NBA pulls all business from Russia amid invasion of Ukraine
Add the NBA to the ever-growing list of sports leagues and organizations turning their backs on Russia amid the country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The league announced Wednesday that it is suspending all business activities in Russia, including digital and broadcast content distribution, with no timeline to return, according to Mark Burns of Sports Business Journal.
NBA spokesperson tells @sbjsbd: "We have suspended our business activities in Russia.”
That includes activities related to content distribution such as digital and broadcast, per a source. There is no timeline on when business activities will resume in Russia, this person said.— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) March 3, 2022
Sacramento Kings center Alex Len and Toronto Raptors wing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, the only two NBA players from Ukraine, have released a joint statement condemning the Russian invasion and calling for peace, while former Boston Celtics center Enes Freedom has called for a full Russian ban from international sports.
The decision likely won't carry many financial consequences for the NBA, which currently has zero active Russian players, per Basketball Reference, and only started airing the NBA Finals in the country a decade ago. At least, it won't be as big a loss as, say, China, the country whose human rights abuses haven't stopped the NBA from pursuing as a major international market.
The NBA is hardly alone in sanctioning Russia, especially in the sports world. Here is a list of some of the actions taken against the country by various governing bodies in the realm of athletics:
FIFA and UEFA have banned the Russian national soccer team from international competition, including the World Cup.
UEFA has moved its upcoming Champions League final out of Russia.
The IIHF has banned the Russian national hockey team from international competition.
The NHL has suspended all business activities in Russia.
The IOC has recommended all Russian athletes be banned from international competition.
World Athletics has banned all Russian track and field athletes from international competition and pulled events from the country.
FIBA has suspended the Russian national basketball team from international competition.
The ISU has banned all Russian figure skaters from international competition.
The FIS has banned all Russian skiers from international competition.
The ATP, WTA, and ITF have suspended all events in Russia and are making all Russian tennis players compete as neutral athletes.
The IVF has pulled its men's world championship from Russia and banned Russian volleyball clubs.
The four major boxing organizations have stopped sanctioning any matches in Russia, and the WBO may remove Russian boxers from its rankings.
Formula 1 has removed the Russian Grand Prix from its 2022 calendar.
Motorsport UK has banned all Russian drivers.
Electronic Arts has removed all Russian teams from its FIFA video game series.
The International Judo Federation has stripped Russian president Vladimir Putin, a big judo fan, from his role as honorary president.
It is a wave of bans and sanctions that is basically unprecedented in modern sports, and indicative of the pariah status Russia has earned for its widely condemned attack on its neighboring country. Sports are hardly the biggest problem right now for Russia, which could be heading toward an economic depression amid a tidal wave of financial sanctions, but they are serving as a reminder of just how livid the international community is with Putin's government.
