The Premier League and the English Football League will cancel their broadcast contracts in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Both leagues have instructed their lawyers to begin the process of ending broadcast contracts in Russia, with an announcement expected in the next few days.
The organisers of England’s professional leagues are united in their desire that no more matches should be shown in Russia, while Vladimir Putin continues to wage war on Ukraine.
The move, which is not yet finalised, would mean a cut in foreign broadcast revenues – in the case of the Premier League, the current Russian deal is worth around £6m a year. But there is confidence among football’s bosses that all English clubs will offer their full backing to the plan.
Last week, the UK Government added the Russian state-owned broadcaster Sberbank to its list of companies to face stringent sanctions, after calls from MPs for English football to take a stand against Russian aggression. Rambler, the Moscow-based TV company that has a contract with the Premier League and EFL to show English football, is a subsidiary of Sberbank.
