Grachan

As good a reason as any to give him a chance to revoke Russian citizenship and ride in the GP surely? Or is he stuck in Russia? Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko are disqualified from the Russian competitions and the Russian Team The Track Commission for Racing on the cinder track analyzed the statements of Russian racers Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko in the media, as well as on Internet platforms, discrediting the honor and dignity of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Racers who made unworthy statements and their opinions on the situation in the country do not deserve to be called the proud name of a Russian athlete and represent the honor of the Russian Federation at international competitions. Based on the above, it was decided: 1. Revoke permission to participate in International competitions and international leagues. 2. Revoke the National License (Russian license). 3. Withdraw these athletes from the Russian National Team. 4. To disqualify Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko from participation in Russian competitions in accordance with the Charter of the IFR and the Sports Code. Cinder Track Racing Commission

I'm not sure it does. The Russian speedway riders with Polish citizenship have the option of riding in the Polish league if they have previously ridden for Poland or if they denounce their Russian citizenship. (Personally, I feel the SGP should have waited to see if Laguta and Sayfutdinov took up this option before expelling them from the GP) Take a look at the line-up for the Indian Wells tennis tournament this week. Plenty of Russians and Belarussians playing, but not representing their country. Daria Saville playing as an Australian, as she has done for several years now. I don't actually think any sports bodies are banning people purely on the basis of them having been born in Russia.

What about Daria Saville? She is a Tennis player. Formerly known as Daria Gavrilova, she now represents Australia having married an Australian and taken Australian citizenship. She has also posted on Twitter that she will be wearing Yellow and Blue at her next tournament in support of the people of Ukraine, and called for other players to join her in doing so. Should she really be banned from playing just because she was born in Russia? I don't think she should.

Maybe if they did what they need to do to ride in the Polish league and denounce their Russian citizenship they could still ride although the FIM statement already says they cannot. If they become Polish at least Poland might be able to win the SON for once!

That might be partly down to a news story I saw a couple of days ago, saying that any Russian spreading what it called "fake news" about what Russia is doing in Ukraine will face up to 15 years in prison. There is also, of course, the risk of getting something nasty put on your door knob if you live overseas. It is not as easy as we, in the west, might think. Maybe that is why Emil has deleted his Twitter account.

Not that I'm aware of. Those are the conditions stated by the Polish league. If Russian riders with Polish citizenship wish to ride in the league then they have to renounce their Russian citizenship.

If they give up their Russian citizenship then they won't be Russian any more. Should people really have no right to forsake their Russian citizenship and move on with their lives if they get the chance to do it? It is not Sayfutdinov and Laguta's fault that the war is going on. Normal people deserve a chance. If they choose not to give up their Russian citizenship then, fair enough, stop them riding. But they have killed nobody. They are just people who happened to be born where they were. Nobody can do anything about that part of themselves.

Me neither, but that was the conditions that were given to allow them to ride in the Polish league and I was replying to a comment that said that it wasn't good enough.

I follow Piers Morgan. It means nothing. Why would you have a problem with him if he is solely Polish? If he is no longer Russian and entirely based in Poland I think we should give the guy a break. EDIT - It looks like his Twitter account has now been removed - assuming EmilSaytudinov89 was the real Emil.

In what way do you not think it is good enough? Surely if they renounce their Russian citizenship and become solely Polish then that should show enough willing and enable them to be a speedway rider.

So it will be with the Russian drivers in Poland - Speedway fans The Polish site Sportowefakty has published information that Russian citizens who have not competed for Poland on a Polish license before will be stopped from driving in the league. At present, Artem Laguta, who is a Polish citizen, has applied to drive on a Polish license, if the new information is correct, it would not matter that he receives a Polish license. Emil Sayfutdinov is also a Polish citizen, but none of them will start if the information is correct. A driver who, on the other hand, is allowed to drive according to the new rules is Gleb Chugunov. This is because Gleb has on previous occasions driven for the Polish national team. In order for a driver who has not driven on a Polish license before to be allowed to change, the Polish Federation requires that they renounce their Russian citizenship.

A good line-up. I'd pay to stream it if it was available.

I can see both sides of the argument really. I don't think it is clear-cut either way in terms of individuals riding as themselves and not representing the country. Is it down to political allegiances too? Russia are waging a war and giving misinformation to their own people to justify it. Did the USA and the UK not do the same when they invaded Iraq? Should Greg Hancock and Scott Nicholls have been kicked out of the Grand Prix in 2003? Where does one draw the line? I'm in regular contact with a Russian guy who lives in the USA as part of my job. I don't have a problem with that.

There are a lot of tennis tournaments going on at the moment and it's interesting to see some of the developments. Ukranian player Elina Svitolina pulled out of the Monterrey Open. She was drawn to play a Russian player and said she will not play any Russian or Belarusian unless they played as stateless. The organisers agreed that her opponent, Anastasia Potapova, will play as a neutral player and representing no country. Svitolina has been very outspoken on this. If this solution is good enough for her then it should be good enough for everyone else.

Another piece of relevant text is: "If not possible for "organisational or legal reasons"".

The IOC is now calling for a ban on all Russians from World sport. IOC calls for ban on Russians from world sport (gulf-times.com)

I'm not sure that they are actually Emil. There is no blue tick to confirm it as real, whereas Tai Woffinden's account has that. They could be fan accounts. Edit - they could be real if you look at some of the people following the Emilsayfutdinov89, account (eg Kelvin Tatum, Jason Crump, Alun Rossiter, Jason Doyle, Darcy Ward, Natilie Quirk).

I missed this earlier. If this is the real Emil then I see no reason why anyone should be against him competing.

That's pretty much where I stand too Danil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are still playing in tennis tournaments. Both have spoken out against the war and Rublev, in particular, has been quite high profile about it. He wrote an anti-war message on a camera lens after a match last week and also played in a doubles match with a Ukranian partner. I don't see the positions of Laguta or Sayfudinov being any any different. They are riding as individuals, although some sort of comment on how they feel about the situation in Ukraine might not go amiss.

I would think that for a non-speedway fan it would be difficult to keep up with who was who in a race without commentary. I certainly wouldn't know half the time.

I remember listening to a tennis commentary on the radio. They try to describe the shot, and by the time they've half explained it the other person has returned so they have to cut themselves off and start describing the other shot. It's hilarious.

I think Jonathan Pierce started all the shouty commentary we get today. I remember, at one time, he was seen as something of a comedy value novelty with his excessive way, but now just blends in with all the others. You need commentary for speedway. I, for one, want to know who is who as I don't fill in a race card when it's on television. And on televised sport it adds something for me. Nigel and Kelvin do a reasonable job in my opinion. The best sport for "non-commentary" is probably tennis. You don't get it during the rallies really, but they then discuss things during the gaps.

If you go to the Discovery+ site on a web browser, click on your account and "Manage your account", then press "cancel". I have done this as I'm not sure what is happening next year. Also, if they are showing speedway next year then it is easy to re-subscribe. If they do another £29.99 deal (or similar) for the Australian Open again then it is probably easy to re-join on another email. I can get it on my main TV but not on other TVs as I have Now TV USB sticks which don't get Discovery+. I'm thinking of getting a Roku stick, although at the moment I do have a rather good excuse to say that I need to watch the big telly in the front room!

I was very dubious about Discovery+ but I'm quite impressed with it. I got it for the 29.99 annual deal and watched the Australian Open with it. I was able to select whichever match I wanted and watch either Live or from the beginning. Plus there is live Eurosport on there and some film and documentaries for good measure. It also has all last season's live Speedway from Eurosport on there to watch again. I'd definitely choose it over just having Eurosport.

I remember a Marathon (or possibly Mars) advert that was filmed at a meeting at Wimbledon. There was also a Durex advert which had a Speedway rider in a Durex race jacket and the words: "Crowd Stopper" emblazoned across it. I can't remember who the rider was though.