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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Nathan Ridley

Premier League ends Russian TV broadcast deal with £1m going to Ukraine disaster fund

The Premier League has ended its partnership with Russian broadcaster Okko Sport following the invasion of Ukraine.

Along with condemning Vladimir Putin's attack, league chiefs have also agreed to donate £1million to victims of the war.

The decision not to show games in Russia was made at a shareholders' meeting on Tuesday and had been expected after chief executive Richard Masters announced last Thursday that the situation was under review.

Meanwhile, the FA has reportedly suspended its partnership with Russian broadcasters over rights for the FA Cup.

A statement read: "The Premier League and its clubs today unanimously agreed to suspend our agreement with Russian broadcast partner Rambler (Okko Sport) with immediate effect and to donate £1million to support the people of Ukraine.

"The League strongly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We call for peace and our thoughts are with all those impacted.

"The £1million donation will be made to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to deliver humanitarian aid directly to those in need.

The Premier League will not be shown in Russia (Getty Images)

"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."

UK sports minister Nigel Huddleston added: "This is absolutely the right thing to do and we fully support the Premier League's decision to stop broadcasting matches in Russia in response to Putin's barbaric, senseless invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia cannot be allowed to legitimise its illegal war through sport and culture, and we must work together to ensure Putin remains a pariah on the international stage."

The cancelled deal is worth around £6m a year.

The UK Government recently added 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 Premier League has shown its support for Ukraine (Getty Images)

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 division's planned shows of support for Ukraine which was invaded 12 days ago.

The Premier League currently generates around £1.5billion per season from their shared agreement with domestic television partners - such as Sky Sports, BT Sport, BBC Sport and Amazon Prime - and £1.3b from overseas broadcast rights.

Match TV, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, also have in place a new six-year agreement worth £42m to show Premier League matches from the start of next season, although a decision on the deal's future has not been announced.

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