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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Darren Lewis

Adidas shows its principles remain soft and fluid with tentative Russia move

The decision from Adidas to suspend its partnership with the Russian Football Union raises more questions than answers.

On the one hand the move - in line with the litany of sporting entities exiling the nation after its invasion of Ukraine - is the right one.

Within a week, Russia has become a pariah in the sporting arena. With boots on the ground not an option at this stage, isolation remains the strongest weapon at western Europe’s disposal.

On the other, the principles of Adidas appear to be fluid, to say the least.

Why for example, would the sportswear firm only suspend its relationship with Russia for turning Ukraine into a killing field and leaving the world fearing World War 3 - when it ended its relationship with West Ham footballer Kurt Zouma for kicking a cat?

A video featuring Kurt Zouma in his kitchen kicking his pet cat resulted in widespread condemnation (Getty Images)

How could Adidas be so determined to disassociate itself with the French defender when it chose to retain its relationship with superstar Uruguay forward Luis Suarez after he chose to bite an opponent on no fewer than three occasions?

Despite the first two incidents, Suarez was part of the Adidas promotional campaign for the 2014 World Cup - where he went on to do it again.

And how do Adidas square their position on Zouma with the fact that more than two million kangaroos are killed each year to make sports shoes for a number of sportswear companies - including theirs?

Fans have not been shy about setting out the curious nature of the Adidas principles on social media.

Asked directly about Zouma and the apparent contradictions in their stance, Adidas would only reiterate their position.

‘We were made aware of a deeply upsetting video circulating online,” it said. "Following an internal investigation we can confirm Kurt Zouma is no longer an Adidas athlete.”

Fair enough. But can it really expect a pat on the back for moves that appear to be guided by the prevailing wind?

In any case, suspending Russia isn’t even really a move is it? It’s a holding pattern; a wait and see.

Croatia beat Russia to reach the 2022 World Cup, while Russia have since been banned by FIFA (Sanjin Strukic/Pixsell/MB Media/Getty Images)

Manchester United ended its £40million-a-year sponsorship deal with Russian-owned airline company Aeroflot. No messing; gone.

UEFA ended its £34m-per-season partnership with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. It took a few days but the action was decisive.

UEFA also banned Russian sides from participating in its club competitions, leading to Spartak Moscow being kicked out of the Europa League.

Adidas has imposed the equivalent of sending Russia away to think about what they did.

Their relationship - Adidas has made Russia's kits since 2008 - is believed to be due to run out at the end of this year.

Suspending the country is hardly neck-on-the-block stuff, is it?

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