Tag: Russia

Egor Demin: NBA draft scouting report

2006 | 6’9 | 7’0 WS | 190 LBS Team: BYU Agent: BDA International Best aggregate mock draft rank: 7 / Worst rank: 20 2024-25 stats: In 2024-25, Demin averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. He shot 41.2 …

2006 | 6’9 | 7’0 WS | 190 LBS

Team: BYU

Agent: BDA International

Best aggregate mock draft rank: 7 / Worst rank: 20

2024-25 stats:

In 2024-25, Demin averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. He shot 41.2 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from three, and 69.5 percent from the foul line.

His parents are Vladimir and Natalia Demin, and they were both basketball players. His father played professionally in Russia and played for the country’s national team.

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UEFA president Ceferin explains partial lifting of Russia ban

Russian U-17 teams will be allowed back in official UEFA competitions

After allowing Russian U-17 teams back in its competitions, UEFA has explained that the organization does not want to continue punishing children.

The European governing body announced Tuesday that for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, teams from Russia would be allowed to participate in its competitions.

Days after the invasion, UEFA suspended all Russian international teams and clubs from competition, and also revoked the country’s hosting rights for the 2022 men’s Champions League final and 2023 Super Cup.

FIFA would also join the ban, with Russia barred from participating in the 2022 men’s World Cup and 2023 women’s World Cup, among other competitions.

But UEFA’s ban has now partially been lifted, with the organization saying boys and girls U-17 teams from Russia could return to its competitions.

In a statement, UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin reiterated that the lifting of the ban would go no further than youth teams.

“UEFA’s continuing suspension against Russian adult teams reflects its commitment to take a stand against violence and aggression. UEFA is determined that this position will continue until the war is over and peace restored,” Čeferin said.

“But by banning children from our competitions, we not only fail to recognize and uphold a fundamental right for their holistic development but we directly discriminate against them.

“By providing opportunities to play and compete with their peers from all over Europe, we are investing in what we hope will be a brighter and more capable future generation and a better tomorrow.”

UEFA added that it “reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s illegal war.”

Russian U-17 teams who participate in UEFA competitions will not be allowed wear the national kit, display their flag or play their anthem. A ban on games played in Russia will also continue.

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Russia star on possible Asia switch: ‘Nobody watches AFC Champions League’

Russia is considering its options as it continues to be suspended by FIFA and UEFA

Could Russia leave UEFA to join up with the AFC instead? One of its biggest stars sure hopes not.

Russia’s national teams and club teams have been suspended by UEFA and FIFA for a year now, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. With the war seemingly far from over and the suspensions still in place, Russia has reportedly begun mulling over a switch to the Asian confederation.

CSKA Moscow and Russia international Fedor Chalov would not be pleased if that were the case, as he said in an interview with Sport24.

The publication asked the striker if he was mentally prepared to face the fact that he may have played his final match in European competition more than a year ago.

He replied: “I really hope that’s not the case.”

Chalov added on the possibility of a shift to Asia: “Nobody is interested. Not a single person watches the AFC Champions League.

“There are many good players there. But I will never believe that the Asian Champions League will be more interesting than the European one.”

The 24-year-old forward would know, having scored against Real Madrid in 2018 in a famous away win for CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.

Chalov has been capped four times by the Russia national team since he earned his first call-up in 2019. Since it was suspended by FIFA and UEFA, Russia has only played three matches, all of which were friendlies against Asian countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

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Brittney Griner said she intends to play the upcoming WNBA season in emotional message to her supporters

Brittney Griner plans to make her return to the W next season.

If Brittney Griner needed a year or two away from basketball before she was ready to return to a court, it would have been understandable.

We would have understood if she never wanted to play again.

It was basketball that brought her to Russia in the first place, where she was arrested in February and sentenced to nine years in prison over less than a gram of hash oil.

But after 10 months locked away on foreign land, and just a week since her release, Griner said in a message thanking her supporters that she intends to play in the upcoming WNBA season.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPAWB5O8F1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.

Griner’s return to the court for the Phoenix Mercury is sure to be an emotional moment. Her last game in the W was on Oct. 17, 2021 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky. The 2023 season is set to begin on May 19, with the Mercury visiting the Los Angeles Sparks that night. Phoenix’s home opener is May 21 against the Sky.

In her message on Instagram, Griner also stated her intention to use her platform to help President Joe Biden bring home other Americans.

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Watch the precious moment Cherelle Griner learned Brittney Griner was finally on her way home

“This is such a good day. Oh my God.”

It has been a long time coming for the Griner family since Russian authorities wrongfully detained Brittney Griner over vape cartridges.

The sports world was overtaken with joy when news broke that the Mercury center would finally be returning home after finally Russia agreed to a prisoner swap. It certainly came at a heavy cost and is considered controversial by some, but it was worth it. An American who has been wronged is finally returning home.

While everyone was thrilled with the news, no one was more filled with joy than Brittney’s wife, Cherelle, who had to endure so much over the last 10 months.

She had support, sure. But Cherelle Griner’s wife still had not been returned home and there were moments where she had no idea where Brittney was. Now, all of that is over.

We got a glimpse of the moment Cherelle learned Brittney Griner was finally safe and headed home via President Joe Biden’s Twitter account.

This moment is so precious. You can see the joy on Cherelle Griner’s face.

“She’s on the ground,” President Biden says about Brittney Griner, who is in the process of being transferred. “Stop it,” Cherelle Griner replies with a big smile on her face. Then they shared a big hug.

“This is such a good day. Oh my God,” she said as they sat down. You can’t help but be happy for her here. What a good day, indeed. What a special moment.

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Bringing Brittney Griner home came at a heavy cost, but it was worth it

Brittney Griner is on her way home. Here are the next steps

Fans, friends and allies from across the sports world were overtaken with joy when news of Brittney Griner’s release broke Thursday morning. The U.S. government successfully orchestrated a 1-to-1 prisoner swap with Russia to bring Griner home after she spent months in detainment on drug smuggling charges and later sentenced to nine years in prison.

As it stands now, she’s free, safe and on a flight home. But it didn’t come without a heavy cost considering who she was swapped for. And there’s still plenty of work to be done to bring another detainee home, too.

Let’s dig into the aftermath of all this now that Griner is on her way back to the United States.

Brittney Griner’s already fraught wrongful imprisonment in Russia just got even worse in a horrifying way

Here’s everything you need to know about Brittney Griner’s horrifying situation

It’s been 8 months since Russia wrongfully detained Brittney Griner for having vape cartridges with hashish oil.

In the time since Griner has been sentenced to 9 years in prison. Her family and supporters have constantly called for her release to no avail. No progress has been made. The US government offered to swap prisoners with Russia, but it didn’t work. Griner and her lawyers tried to appeal her sentence, but it was denied.

Now, Griner’s wrongful imprisonment is going to get even worse.

Russia has begun the process of moving Griner to a penal colony, according to reporting from ESPN’s T.J. Quinn. Her family has no idea where she is right now or where she’s being moved to and notification can take weeks.

This is horrifying — plain and simple. This puts Griner is some very real and potentially life-threatening danger.

Let’s look at the details.

Qatar would like to thank Putin for his World Cup hosting tips

“I am very happy to see you, Mr. President,” the emir told Putin

In a move that could charitably be called ill-timed, Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani thanked Russian president Vladimir Putin for his help with staging the World Cup at a meeting on Thursday.

Just one month before the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, the monarch and Putin met at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Al Thani was full of praise for Putin, whom he said “provided great support to Qatar” in the lead-up to the World Cup.

“After Russia made a great success in organizing the 2018 World Cup, Russian friends have provided great support to Qatar, especially in terms of organization, with the organizing committee of the 2022 World Cup,” the emir said.

“We thank you for this and we are proud of this relationship. This will continue until the end of the World Cup. I am very happy to see you, Mr. President. Thank you.”

Putin, who oversaw Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup, wished Qatar luck in its staging of the 2022 event.

“We are also doing everything we can in terms of transferring the experience of preparing for the World Cup, you know this, we just had the opportunity to talk about it with you,” Putin said. “I would like to wish you success in holding this major event. I’m sure that it will be (a success).”

Russia’s staging of the 2018 World Cup was controversial at the time, in part because of Putin’s crackdown on dissent and his 2014 annexation of Crimea. FIFA’s decision to award Russia that tournament now, of course, has been cast in a much more negative light after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine this year, which has been followed by a bloody war that is showing no signs of ending.

That invasion saw FIFA ban Russia from participation in the 2022 World Cup, among a host of other sanctions from the global governing body and UEFA.

Like Russia, Qatar has been a highly controversial choice to host the World Cup due to the myriad of human rights issues within the country.

For FIFA, the meeting between the two nations on Thursday was a reminder of the countries it’s recently done business with, and photo-op it probably could have done without.

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As war with Russia rages on, Ukrainian golfers reunite in St. Andrews for memorable camp

How a group of women in an R&A program built a foundation to help the golf community in war-torn Ukraine.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February a group of young players in the Ukrainian Golf Federation’s development program was relocated across Europe.

For the first time since they were forced to flee their war-torn country, seven kids reconnected in Scotland at the Project Ukraine golf camp last week, which was organized by a group of women in the R&A’s Women in Golf Leadership Development Program.

The women were inspired by Veronika Rastvortseva, a colleague of theirs who gave an emotional account of what her family experienced in Ukraine while participating in an online workshop. From there Project Ukraine was founded to support the golf community in Ukraine.

“We’ve all watched the horrors unfold in Ukraine and we were compelled to help after listening to our colleague Veronika Rasvortseva describe what was going on around her in the early days of the invasion,” said Project Ukraine’s Toni Zverblis. “Thankfully, she managed to move her family out of the country but has been working tirelessly from her temporary home in Belgium on this project since then. She has helped the group liaise with the Ukrainian Golf Federation and the families whom we are supporting.”

The camp at the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel Golf & Spa featured golf clinics, health and mental skills sessions as well as Rules of Golf workshops. Last Saturday, a match was held against players from the Stephen Gallacher Foundation, a junior golf program in Scotland. On Sunday the camp attended the final day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews where they were interviewed on Sky Sports and even met the likes of Rory McIlroy, Adrian Meronk and event winner Ryan Fox.

“I have no doubt this experience has changed their lives. The support they have had during this camp from the Project Ukraine team is enormous. I can’t describe how important it has been for these kids to be back together like a family, getting them back to the tee to play golf, and to just sit and chat in the lobby and share what they have been through over the past months,” said Rastvortseva, who attended the camp with her two daughters.

“Our goal was that the camp provided hope and inspiration,” said Zverblis. “We want to ensure that these young golfers’ dreams and ambitions are kept alive despite the devastation they face at home in Ukraine.”

“Their dreams have come true – they met Rory McIlroy and shook his hand. They had a welcome message from Tommy Fleetwood – it’s a dream for any junior. Unfortunately, all these kids have trauma – but for us, it was so important to keep them away from that for a short time,” added Rastvortseva. “It’s hoped that Project Ukraine will continue to be able to help other families and junior golfers because there are many others that need our assistance. They need support with education and getting them back out onto the golf course regularly. They need to remember those emotions that they felt when they were able to play golf in their home county, which unfortunately they haven’t been able to do for a long time.

“When these kids grow up in a few years they will understand even more how this camp has impacted their pathway. It’s inspiring.”

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Bosnia scheduled a friendly vs. Russia and its two biggest stars are not happy

Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić were not pleased their federation scheduled a match in St. Petersburg

Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić have both voiced their disapproval after Bosnia and Herzegovina scheduled a friendly against Russia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina announced this week that it will travel to St. Petersburg for a match on November 19, one day before World Cup 2022 kicks off.

Russia won’t be at the World Cup after the country was disqualified from this spring’s playoff round as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.

Džeko, the country’s captain, sounds like he may boycott the trip to Russia entirely, telling Bosnian news website Klix: “I am against the playing of this match; I am always and only for peace.

“I have my position which is clear and which does not include playing this match, while innocent people are suffering. I stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in these difficult times for them.”

Pjanić sounded a similar note, telling Bosnian media: “The decision is not good. I am speechless. In the national FA, they know what I think.”

Russia played its most recent match in November 2021 and is still banned from FIFA and UEFA competition. Russia will, however, end its run without any games this month when it faces Kyrgyzstan in a friendly on September 24, with a friendly against Iran in November also on the schedule.

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