Latest news with #CSKA
Russia Today
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Russia Today
Russian athlete takes fencing world title
Russia's two-time Olympic fencing champion, Yana Egorian, has won sabre gold at the World Championships in Georgia. She was competing under a neutral banner, as the participation of Russian athletes has reportedly sparked protest, following the widespread international bans placed on them following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 Having been recently permitted to compete in events the Russian fencing team has faced street protests and gestures from Ukrainian athletes throughout the championships in the Georgian capital Tbilisi at the weekend. Egorian however, defeated Poland's Zuzanna Cieslar in Sunday's final, and subsequently told the Russian sports channel Match TV: 'Russia, this is for you!' During the day, protesters with Ukrainian and Georgian flags held an anti-Russian rally in front of the Olympic Arena in the Georgian capital. They chanted slogans targeting athletes such as Egorian and other Central Army Sports Club (CSKA) members with military ranks under Russia's Defense Ministry, according to Interpress news. Protesters displayed provocative banners, lit firecrackers near the Russian team's hotel, and burned a Russian flag. The Russian Interests Section at the Swiss embassy in Georgia issued a statement on Telegram on Saturday in which it denounced the protests as 'Russophobic' which were intended to mobilize radicals and damage Tbilisi's reputation a host. Egorian, 31, was granted neutral competitor status in early July. She told Match TV she had been waiting six years for the competition, since her last international appearance at the 2019 world championships. Alongside Egorian, Russian fencer Kirill Borodachev and the female skewers team won silver medals. Ukrainian medalists Vlada Kharkova and Alina Komashchuk boycotted a medal photo shoot that included Borodachev and Egorian. In the run-up to the championships Ukrainian 2024 Olympic sabre champion Olga Kharlan – who did not attend the championships – demanded stricter rules for Russian neutral athletes, in an open letter published in her social media which was reportedly signed by 447 fencers. Kharlan was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for refusing to shake hands with Russia's Anna Smirnova. Moscow has repeatedly objected to restrictions placed on Russian athletes. President Vladimir Putin slammed them as 'ethnic discrimination' and a 'violation of the Olympic Charter principles against politicizing sports.'
DW
11-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
Russian army major to compete at fencing world championships – DW – 07/11/2025
Sofya Velikaya is one of the world's most successful fencers, having won multiple Olympic medals. Now, after a long absence, she is allowed to return to competition — despite her military rank. Russians with direct links to the military will be free to compete at fencing's world championships later this month, after the sport's governing body abandoned independent vetting of Russian and Belarusian athletes. Under the International Fencing Federation's (FIE) new neutrality policy, being affiliated with military clubs is no longer a disqualifying factor for fencers wishing to obtain neutral status. That decision has allowed five-time Olympic medalist Sofya Velikaya, a major in the Russian army by virtue of her membership of the army club CSKA, to enter this year's world championships, which start in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 22. Many sports organizations in Russia are connected to the army or the police. Referring to Velikaya's participation in Tbilisi, one senior European fencing official told DW: "That for me is a total no-go." The official added that they were "outraged" by the decision to scrap independent checks. The move has also sparked anger in Ukraine, with the country still heavily under attack from Russia. "This is a slap in the face not only to Ukrainian athletes, but to the entire global sports community," said Mykhailo Ilyashev, the president of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation. "We have emphasized from the very beginning that this whole process of testing Russian fencers for neutrality is a farce." Ukrainian sports officials have long campaigned against the participation of any athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus in international events, even as neutrals. From now on, the FIE will only require Russian and Belarusian fencers to sign a form confirming their neutrality, without any third-party oversight. The requirements include not making any public statements that support the war or participating in any pro-war rallies. The policy, announced in a letter to the FIE's member federations, breaks with one of the main neutrality rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 2024 Paris Olympics. There, any athlete who was "contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies" could not participate. Velikaya, 40, missed out on the Paris Games because of her army status. She had never appeared on any vetted list of neutral athletes, and her inclusion at the world championships — alongside fellow CSKA members Yana Egorian and Olga Nikitina, who both also have military ranks — has shocked many observers. In June, Ukraine complained after Velikaya was nominated as a candidate for the FIE's athletes' commission, highlighting her rank of major and her role as an official campaigner — "a confidant" — for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election. "Such a person cannot be recognized as neutral and has no right to participate in the international sports movement — and even less to claim to represent the interests of athletes around the world," Ukraine's sports ministry wrote in a joint statement with the Ukrainian Olympic Committee and Ukrainian Fencing Federation. It added that "aggressor countries are using sport not for dialogue and unity, but as a tool of propaganda." Previously, and similar to many international sports federations, the FIE hired a cybersecurity company and independent lawyer to verify information it had collected on Russian and Belarusian fencers who applied for neutral status. At that time, the criteria for granting this was in line with the IOC's rules. Explaining its decision in the letter on July 7, the FIE called the vetting process "burdensome and particularly costly," and said that it wanted to "simplify the process, to make it quicker and less expensive." It is the second time in three months that the FIE has gone against the IOC, having decided in April to allow teams of neutral athletes at its events, something that was not permitted in Paris. Asked by DW to comment on the FIE's diverging policies, the IOC replied that each sport's governing body "is the sole authority for its international competitions, outside of the Olympic Games." The FIE didn't respond to a request for comment. Observers say fencing has long been under Russian influence. In March 2023, the sport was one of the first to readmit Russians and Belarusians as neutrals. Meanwhile, last November, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov — once described by the European Union as "one of Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs" — was reelected as the FIE's president for a fifth term, despite being sanctioned in nearly 40 countries. Usmanov, who rejects the term "oligarch," single-handedly bankrolled fencing for years. He stood down from the presidency just days after his reelection, although many inside the sport suspect he is continuing to pull strings from behind the scenes. Another fencing source told DW that Usmanov's influence was "obvious," but pointed most of the blame at the FIE's ruling executive committee. "Recent decisions to return fencers in teams, and in particular fencers with known and public military affiliation before, during and after the war is simply unacceptable while the IOC and wider sport world maintain appropriate restrictions on Russian and Belarusian participation," the source said.
Fox Sports
13-06-2025
- Business
- Fox Sports
West Ham $10M transfer payment to CSKA Moscow held up by UK sanctions
Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Millions of dollars due to soccer club CSKA Moscow from West Ham will stay unpaid while financial sanctions are imposed by the British government during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CSKA said on Friday it could file an appeal with Switzerland's supreme court in the three-year financial dispute over the 26.7 million euros ($30.8 million) transfer deal for Croatia midfielder Nikola Vlasic. A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in the case, further stalling payments owed by West Ham, is 'essentially an indefinite deferment plan for the English club,' CSKA Moscow said in a statement. West Ham must pay the outstanding money only when it can get a license from the British government or the sanctions regime is amended, the CAS judges ruled. They also overturned a FIFA order that West Ham should be liable for 5% interest since 2022 on the money. West Ham appealed to CAS challenging a FIFA order in 2023 to pay CSKA a second contracted part of the transfer fee or face a ban on registering newly signed players. The Premier League club signed Vlašić in 2021 and a second payment of 8.55 million euros ($9.9 million) was due in July 2022. That was five months after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine led the British government to impose financial sanctions including against CSKA's then-owner, the VEB bank, and the club's account holder. West Ham has argued since 2022 it was 'faced with the impossibility' of sending money to Russia without committing a crime. However, FIFA judges ruled in 2023 that West Ham did not prove it was impossible to make the payment. At the CAS hearing, FIFA told the panel of three judges it was unable to create and oversee an escrow account that West Ham could pay into. The CAS panel ruled by a 2-1 majority for West Ham that 'no alternative legal routes were available to pay CSKA at that time.' The 27-year-old Vlašić played one season for West Ham which later sold him to Torino for almost 13 million euros ($15 million). ___ AP soccer: recommended in this topic
Hamilton Spectator
13-06-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
West Ham $10M transfer payment to CSKA Moscow held up by UK sanctions
GENEVA (AP) — Millions of dollars due to soccer club CSKA Moscow from West Ham will stay unpaid while financial sanctions are imposed by the British government during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CSKA said on Friday it could file an appeal with Switzerland's supreme court in the three-year financial dispute over the 26.7 million euros ($30.8 million) transfer deal for Croatia midfielder Nikola Vlašić. A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in the case, further stalling payments owed by West Ham, is 'essentially an indefinite deferment plan for the English club,' CSKA Moscow said in a statement. West Ham must pay the outstanding money only when it can get a license from the British government or the sanctions regime is amended, the CAS judges ruled. They also overturned a FIFA order that West Ham should be liable for 5% interest since 2022 on the money. West Ham appealed to CAS challenging a FIFA order in 2023 to pay CSKA a second contracted part of the transfer fee or face a ban on registering newly signed players. The Premier League club signed Vlašić in 2021 and a second payment of 8.55 million euros ($9.9 million) was due in July 2022. That was five months after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine led the British government to impose financial sanctions including against CSKA's then-owner, the VEB bank, and the club's account holder. West Ham has argued since 2022 it was 'faced with the impossibility' of sending money to Russia without committing a crime. However, FIFA judges ruled in 2023 that West Ham did not prove it was impossible to make the payment. At the CAS hearing, FIFA told the panel of three judges it was unable to create and oversee an escrow account that West Ham could pay into. The CAS panel ruled by a 2-1 majority for West Ham that 'no alternative legal routes were available to pay CSKA at that time.' The 27-year-old Vlašić played one season for West Ham which later sold him to Torino for almost 13 million euros ($15 million). ___ AP soccer:
San Francisco Chronicle
13-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
West Ham $10M transfer payment to CSKA Moscow held up by UK sanctions
GENEVA (AP) — Millions of dollars due to soccer club CSKA Moscow from West Ham will stay unpaid while financial sanctions are imposed by the British government during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CSKA said on Friday it could file an appeal with Switzerland's supreme court in the three-year financial dispute over the 26.7 million euros ($30.8 million) transfer deal for Croatia midfielder Nikola Vlašić. A Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in the case, further stalling payments owed by West Ham, is 'essentially an indefinite deferment plan for the English club,' CSKA Moscow said in a statement. West Ham must pay the outstanding money only when it can get a license from the British government or the sanctions regime is amended, the CAS judges ruled. They also overturned a FIFA order that West Ham should be liable for 5% interest since 2022 on the money. West Ham appealed to CAS challenging a FIFA order in 2023 to pay CSKA a second contracted part of the transfer fee or face a ban on registering newly signed players. The Premier League club signed Vlašić in 2021 and a second payment of 8.55 million euros ($9.9 million) was due in July 2022. That was five months after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine led the British government to impose financial sanctions including against CSKA's then-owner, the VEB bank, and the club's account holder. West Ham has argued since 2022 it was 'faced with the impossibility' of sending money to Russia without committing a crime. However, FIFA judges ruled in 2023 that West Ham did not prove it was impossible to make the payment. At the CAS hearing, FIFA told the panel of three judges it was unable to create and oversee an escrow account that West Ham could pay into. The CAS panel ruled by a 2-1 majority for West Ham that 'no alternative legal routes were available to pay CSKA at that time.' The 27-year-old Vlašić played one season for West Ham which later sold him to Torino for almost 13 million euros ($15 million). ___
