When the Arctic Winter Games International Committee gave Yamal the boot on Tuesday, I was the least-shocked sports writer in the world.
It wasnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t if, but when John Flynn, the international committeeSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s president, would announce that the autonomous region in Russia would be told they would be on the outside looking in. Now that itSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s done, there are eight jurisdictions that will be in Fort McMurray, Alta., next January for the present time.
It sucks that YamalSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s athletes wonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t be able to take part. I donSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t know what their feelings on the invasion are because ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™m neither there on the ground nor am I inside their heads. But we have had some comments from people on our social media feeds lamenting the fact that the younger athletes wonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t be playing. ThatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s where I am on this SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” let the kids play.
They canSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t help where theySA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™re from and more often than not, they have no clue about whatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s happening. Sure, the adults in charge can fill their heads with propaganda and ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™m sure thatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s whatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s going on. ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ve been watching some of the newscasts from Russia and, predictably, itSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s UkraineSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s fault that they jumped in bed with those dastardly imperialist pigdogs from the West, according to them.
Fact is you and I and anyone else whoSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s listening knows the score. Vladimir Putin wants to re-create the Soviet empire and what he canSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t take through being nice, heSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ll just take through force. ThatSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s how thuggish dictators work.
ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™m also sure that the international committee thought hard about this and itSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s a double-edged sword. Let them play and the bullets start flying from all different directions but keep them out and youSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™re taking away opportunities. The easy decision was to go with the flow and follow what almost every other international sport organization has done: tell Russians they either arenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t welcome or if they are, donSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t identify as Russian.
What we still donSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t know is how long YamalSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s suspension is for. Is it indefinite? Is it for good? Only the international committee knows and from what ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ve been told, they arenSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t saying anything about that right now. And thereSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s the issue of what will happen to YamalSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s planned hosting of the Games in 2026. That may be too far ahead to talk about but itSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s on the minds of those in charge. I suppose it all depends on how long this carries on and from the looks of it, it wonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t be tomorrow.
I even spoke to someone who wondered whether there would be a replacement for Yamal. My response was negative simply because there would be no way for a replacement to have all of the ducks in a row in time. If it the suspension lasts into 2024, it may happen but in the short-term, no.
In the grand scheme of things, YamalSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s suspension from the AWG program isnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t an earth-shattering moment in time. It wonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t deter Putin from rampaging through any plot of land he deems worthy of overtaking. But what it does is put yet another nail in RussiaSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s coffin, even though sanctions and everything else hasnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t deterred Putin, and Yamal has become collateral damage in a way.
How long do I think the suspension will last? As long as Vladimir Putin carries on.