Since 2012 the Champions League has been sponsored by Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant. Between 2018 and 2021 this was worth €40mn a year to Uefa. The relationship, which was renewed until 2024, is nothing new. But it took the Russian invasion of Ukraine to provoke any real backlash against the Gazprom logo on the advertising boards, hospitality suites and television screens. Gazprom also owns football team Zenit St Petersburg and was until this week a mainstay on the shirts of FC Schalke 04 , which plays in the energy company’s key German market. Football had been “sleepwalking into this situation for the best part of 15 years”, Simon Chadwick , professor of Eurasian sport at Emlyon Business School in Paris , told the Financial Times . As he has pointed out, Gazprom isn’t exactly in the business of selling gas to fans during the half-time interval. His interpretation? Sponsorships in high-profile sports come with soft power a...