More and more European teams are discontinuing sponsorships with Russian companies

In the last days and hours more and more teams have decided to remove Gazprom's sponsorship from their jerseys and end the contracts previously signed with the Russian company. As we had recently written, in the last ten years Gazprom had used sport and in particular soccer to make the so-called sportwashing towards its monopoly activity on gas and energy, becoming the Main Sponsor of many clubs around Europe and even coming to associate its logo to that of the most important football competition of the continent: the UEFA Champions League. 

Now, however, in light of Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine and the close ties that unite Moscow with the oil giant, more and more teams have chosen to remove any sign of collaboration with Gazprom. The first was the Schalke 04, a team that over the years had become synonymous with Gazprom having started the collaboration in 2006, has removed every symbol from the jerseys and uniforms of the club and is just a few minutes ago the news that has permanently interrupted the contract thus closing an era of the club. A move made inevitable by Bild, the main German newspaper and tabloid, which on Thursday morning had published photos of Schalke 04 players covering the Gazprom logo with the words "Freiheit für die Ukraine" (Freedom for Ukraine). The jersey with Schalke 04 written in place of the sponsor was put on sale on the club's online store quickly going sold-out. The German club's decision generated a domino effect that involved almost all European teams sponsored by Russian state-owned companies. Austria Wien, another Gazprom-sponsored club, took to the field by removing the logo from their uniforms, while Red Star Belgrade, linked to the Russian company since 2010, decided to keep it. Serbia is one of the few European countries to date not to have taken a stand against the Russian attack. 

In recent days Chelsea has issued a statement in which Roman Abramovich has announced that he will leave the presidency of Chelsea but will remain for now owner of the English club. Abramovich, a close friend of Putin, has long been de facto banned from British territory and his position is followed by the British Home Office through the directorate for security and counter-terrorism. The war in Ukraine has only further exacerbated the contradictions around his chairmanship of the London club, and could be the prelude to a sale. Gazprom also was the Blues' sleeve sponsor from 2013 to 2016. Similarly, Manchester United has discontinued its sponsorship with Aeroflot, the Russian national airline, which until now adorned the sleeve of the Red Devils' playing kit. 

According to rumors by The Guardian and The Independent, UEFA, after moving the Champions League final from the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg to the Stade de France in Paris, is negotiating the termination of the sponsorship contract with the Russian company. A contract from 2021 to 2024 that would also be valid for Euro2024 and for a total of over 50 million euros per year. To conclude, the sanctions established by the US and the EU will soon have repercussions on the coffers of CSKA, the Red Army team.