UEFA terminates partnership with Russia's Gazprom

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - UEFA on Monday canceled its partnership with Russian gas company Gazprom in protest of the Russian war on Ukraine.

"UEFA has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions," European football's governing body said in a statement.

"The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024," it added.

Earlier Monday, German football club Schalke 04 did the same.

In addition to Schalke, Gazprom has so far sponsored the UEFA Champions League, UEFA National Team Football such as the EURO 2020, and UEFA Super Cup.

The company is the current sponsor of Russian football club Zenit St Petersburg, whose home field is Gazprom Arena.

Gazprom began its association with the UEFA Champions League in 2012, and had partnership rights for the UEFA EURO 2020, which ended up being held in summer 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It also had rights for the UEFA EURO 2024 to be hosted by Germany.

Moscow’s war on Ukraine entered its fifth day on Monday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital, Kyiv.

The war has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, Japan, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

At least 102 civilians have so far been killed in Ukraine and more than 500,000 others have fled the country, according to UN officials.

Ukraine says more than 350 civilians have been killed and over 1,600 injured during attacks by Russian forces.