O’Reilly co-authors article about Russian sports for Sports Business Journal
Norm O’Reilly, dean of the University of Maine’s Graduate School of Business, co-authored a column for the Sports Business Journal about the effect of the war in Ukraine on Russian sports with Rick Burton, professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University. O’Reilly wrote that international federations and major sport properties know they will face too much heat if they offered to place events in Russia. “We can sympathize with the young Russian athletes who will find it difficult going forward. … But for quite some time, they will face decision-making from entities that want all things Russia to disappear. That could mean athletes from Russia or Belarus are unable to compete or, for those that are allowed entry, they’ll be kept from doing so under the Russian or Belarusian flags. This is a third major hit to Putin and his use of sport as an international poker chip,” the article read.