Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The English Premier League and its clubs have unanimously agreed to suspend its agreement with Russian broadcast partner, Rambler (Okko Sport), with immediate effect following the invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, it will donate £1 million to support the people of Ukraine.
In a statement, the league body strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saying, “We call for peace and our thoughts are with all those impacted.”
“The £1 million donation will be made to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to deliver humanitarian aid directly to those in need.
“This action follows a weekend of matches displaying League-wide support for Ukraine.
“All club captains wore special armbands and fans joined players, managers, match officials and club staff in a moment of reflection and solidarity before kick-off at each match.
“Big screens displayed Football Stands Together against the backdrop of the blue-and-yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. These words were also shown on LED perimeter boards during matches.
“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,” it noted.
Last week, the UK Government added the Russian state-owned broadcaster Sberbank – which Rambler is a subsidiary of – to its list of companies in line to face sanctions, following calls from MPs to stand against Russian aggression.
The cancelled deal is worth around £6 million a year.
Last weekend’s matches were pulled from broadcast in China, a political ally of Russia.
Chinese rights holders are said to have told the Premier League that they would not broadcast English top-flight matches because of the Premier League’s planned shows of support for Ukraine which was invaded 12 days ago.
The Premier League currently generates around £1.5 billion per season from their shared agreement with local broadcasting partners – such as Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon Prime – and £1.3 billion from overseas television rights.
