Australian sports minister calls for Russia to be excluded from world sport after Ukraine invasion

The federal sports minister has joined forces with other ministers from allied nations in calling for Russia — and Russian athletes — to be exiled from world sport after the invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint statement released late on Friday, the ministershave condemned the actions of the Russian government and called for a series of sanctions by sporting bodies, many of which have already been implemented after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for similar actions last week.

«Athletes and teams representing Russia or Belarus are not welcome in Australia,» Sports Minister Richard Colbeck said.

The impact has already been felt in Australia with this week's official draw for September's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup to be staged in Sydney.

Organisers were only able to confirm 11 of the 12 countries participating. The 12th country was listed in the draw as 'TBD' after the sports governing body elected to exclude the Russian team.

The International Paralympic Committee backflips on its call to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Beijing as «neutral» competitors.

«Every single measure taken to reinforce the condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is important,» Senator Colbeck said. 

«It is important that all Russians come to understand that the actions of their leadership has made them unwelcome in the international sporting community.

»Sport connects across all nations and at all levels of society, and is a community that simply rejects the breach of peace and international law being perpetrated by the Russian leadership.

«We stand united with the people of Ukraine and urge Australians to show their support and solidarity, particularly for Ukrainian athletes at this difficult time.»

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