Russia's sporting freeze grows over Ukraine invasion

Russia, traditionally a powerhouse in figure skating -- they won six medals at the Beijing Olympics including two gold -- had their skaters barred from all competitions.

This rules them out of March's world championships to be hosted in Montpellier, France.

Their track and field athletes, as well as those from Belarus, joined them from being barred from this year's world championships -- indoors and outdoors -- later on Tuesday.

It was a decision not taken lightly, with World Athletics president Sebastian Coe describing it as "going against the grain" to punish athletes "but sport has to step up".

Belarus athletes are being punished as the country is being condemned internationally for being used as a launchpad by Russian forces to attack neighbouring Ukraine.

Both are significant blows to a country, which under President Vladimir Putin had used sport as a powerful force for its image both globally and internally.

Under his presidency it has hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi -- although that was overshadowed by the state-sponsored doping scandal -- and the 2018 football World Cup.

On Monday, the governing bodies who oversee those sporting showpieces hit Russia hard.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged sports federations and organisers to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events.

Hours later, FIFA kicked Russia out of the 2022 World Cup as football's global governing body and UEFA joined forces to expel Russian national teams and clubs from all international competitions.

Russia football suffered another body blow on Tuesday when German sports equipment giants Adidas suspended their partnership with the Russian Football Federation.

Adidas generated 2.9 percent of its turnover in 2020 in the "Russia, Ukraine and CIS" regions.

Russia also lost the right to host the men's Volleyball World Championships in August and September.

- 'Give birth to life' -

This follows UEFA stripping Saint Petersburg of hosting the Champions League final -- European football's premier club competition -- and Formula One cancelling the Russian Grand Prix last Friday.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) followed their fellow federations with a blanket ban on the athletes, declaring it had "strengthened its measures". Only hours before it initially just cancelled BWF-sanctioned tournaments in Russia and Belarus.

Swimming was a rare bird to offer some sanctuary for Russian and Belarusian swimmers, as governing body FINA stopped short of banning them.

"Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams," FINA said in a statement.

Tennis stars, such as newly anointed men's world number one Daniil Medvedev, will be nervously awaiting what the men's tour ATP and women's tour WTA decide.

Russia's top-ranked woman's player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova joined men's tennis number six Andrey Rublev in criticising the war.

"Stop the war, stop the violence," she tweeted on Tuesday.

"Personal ambitions or political motives cannot justify violence. This takes away the future not only from us, but also from our children."

Her compatriot Anastasia Potapova said "I am against grief, tears and war", but she was also angered that her Ukrainian opponent Elina Svitolina had refused to play her in the first round of the Monterrey tournament in Mexico.

"Unfortunately, now we, professional athletes, are essentially becoming hostages of the current situation," she wrote on Instagram.

Russia are also the Davis Cup holders though they are not involved in this weekend's play-offs -- the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that runs the tournament is yet to comment.

The Ukrainians will, in spite of the challenges they faced in travelling, be present for the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

"The Ukrainian national team will fly in full for the Paralympic Games," the Ukrainian federation said in a tweet.

Amid all the gloom for Ukrainian sporting stars, there was a bit of bright news for Ukraine international midfielder Yevhen Shakhov -- who plays in Greece -- whose wife gave birth to a baby girl in Kyiv.

"The real heroes of our time. Heroes are not those who fight, but those who give birth to life. I love you very much," the 31-year-old AEK Athens star posted on Instagram.