MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2020) Dmitrii Svishchev, a member of the Russian State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs, told Sputnik that FIFA and UEFA should express reaction and make official statements on the US decision to sanction Russia's football club Akhmat from the Chechen Republic.
On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, as well as against related companies and sports clubs, including FC Akhmat. The UK has also imposed similar sanctions.
"I really hope that FIFA and UEFA will respond to that because we want to hope that these are two independent organizations. We hope they will make statements. Of course, this is pressure on the athletes, who are currently playing and will play in Akhmat in the future. I really hope that common sense will prevail in sports organizations, and that will not affect our sports clubs," Svishchev said on late Thursday.
The US Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act in 2012 following the 2009 death of Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky in prison.
In 2016, Congress expanded the legislation by adopting the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to impose sanctions on any entity or individual � regardless of nationality � implicated in human rights abuses or corruption. Other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, have adopted similar legislation.
