{"id":16,"date":"2026-01-21T11:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/?p=16"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:12:20","slug":"sports-world-lets-ukrainian-colors-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"Sports world lets Ukrainian colors fly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A hug. A banner. Two simple words written on a pair of shoes: \u201cNo war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players, fans and teams have not been shy about letting their support for Ukraine, its citizens and its athletes spill onto football fields, rugby pitches and basketball courts across the globe in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of its neighbor to the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war has placed many of Ukraine\u2019s athletes directly in harm\u2019s way. It has drawn global condemnation for Russia and Belarus, and iced out most of those countries\u2019 skiers, skaters, soccer players and more from international competitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bronze medal winner Ilia Burov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, left, hugs silver medal winner Ukraine’s Oleksandr Abramenko as they celebrate after the men’s aerials finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With Ukraine in peril, players of all nationalities have draped themselves in the country\u2019s yellow-and-blue flag, donned shirts with the words \u201cStop War,\u201d and played in stadiums where scoreboards have posted messages condemning the war and signaling solidarity with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press photographer Gregory Bull took one of the first photos of this type, when Russia\u2019s Ilia Burov hugged Ukraine\u2019s Oleksandr Abramenko after both won freestyle skiing medals at the Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the action has moved away from Beijing, more moments have followed. AP photographers have captured these snapshots that remind the world about the power of sports to unite, especially during the bleakest of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everton players hold Ukrainian flags before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo\/Jon Super)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Teams take a minute of silence in support of Ukraine ahead of a German Bundesliga soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the match, the players of both teams hold a Ukrainian flag with the inscription “Stop War. We against war.” prior the Bundesliga soccer match between Greuther Fuerth and 1. FC Cologne in Fuerth, Germany, Feb. 26, 2022. (Daniel Karmann\/dpa via AP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soccer fans observe a moment of silence in support of Ukraine before an MLS soccer match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the New York City FC Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A hug. A banner. Two simple words written on a pair of shoes: \u201cNo war.\u201d Players, fans and teams have not been shy about letting their support for Ukraine, its citizens and its athletes spill onto football fields, rugby pitches and basketball courts across the globe in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of its neighbor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,2,4],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/18"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.edubanc.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}