Premier League decides to stop broadcasting matches to Russian television
- Planet Sport writer
- 8 March 2022
With Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Premier League decided to suspend its agreement with Russian broadcast partner Rambler.
As a result of the Premier League's decision, Russia will no longer have televised matches from England's top flight.
The FA have also followed suit in barring Russia from FA Cup television rights, while the EFL have withdrawn access to streaming service iFollow.
The sporting organisations made the decision after a shareholders' meeting in London on Tuesday. Within the meeting, all 20 Premier League clubs were in agreement to sanction Russia following their invasion of Ukraine.
The Premier League also revealed they plan to donate £1million to Ukraine, with the intention of helping civilians affected by the war.
The Premier League and its clubs today unanimously agreed to suspend our agreement with Russian broadcast partner Rambler (Okko Sport) with immediate effect and to donate £1 million to support the people of Ukraine
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 8, 2022
Full statement: https://t.co/r1SPpYLsRo pic.twitter.com/OKiqKbho68
They released a statement on Tuesday, reading: "The Premier League and its clubs today unanimously agreed to suspend our agreement with Russian broadcast partner Rambler with immediate effect and to donate £1 million to support the people of Ukraine.
"The League strongly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We call for peace and our thoughts are with all those impacted.
"The £1 million donation will be made to the Disasters Emergency Committee to deliver humanitarian aid directly to those in need."
There was plenty of support for Ukraine on show during the weekend's Premier League matches, with all 20 club captains wearing special armbands, and each side taking a moment to reflect before kick-off.
The Premier League acknowledged such support around the stadiums over the weekend, and pointed towards it in their statement.
"This message of solidarity was visible to fans around the world across Premier League digital channels and via match broadcasts.
"This is in addition to the numerous ways in which clubs continue to display their support."
The government have since come out to show support for the Premier League's new broadcasting sanctions, with sports minister Nigel Huddleston openly praising the decision.
"This is absolutely the right thing to do and we fully support the Premier League's decision to stop broadcasting matches in Russia in response to Putin's barbaric, senseless invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia cannot be allowed to legitimise its illegal war through sport and culture, and we must work together to ensure Putin remains a pariah on the international stage," said Huddleston.
The weekend's Premier League fixtures were also not broadcasted in China, after the Chinese rights holders decided against televising the games due to the support of Ukraine.
