Russian athletes aren’t just dealing with sports leagues banning them from play or backlash from fans due to their responses — or lack thereof — to the homeland’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
Some, like Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, are disappearing from ads and endorsement campaigns. Others have potentially avoided sponsor backlash by distancing themselves from Russian President Vladimir Putin or publicly criticizing the war in Ukraine.
Two companies took a step back from their deals with Ovechkin this week, including insurance firm MassMutual, which pulled a popular commercial with the 36-year-old off the air.
The ad, which features Ovechkin, Capitals teammate Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin’s wife Anastasia Shubskaya, is “no longer on the air,” the company told ESPN.
MassMutual has not provided a reason why the ad, which debuted in October, was pulled. The company told ESPN its relationship with Ovechkin was exclusive to that one commercial. As of Wednesday morning, the commercial had also been removed from MassMutual‘s YouTube page.
The other company suddenly cool to Ovechkin is CCM Hockey.
The equipment company told TSN that it is pausing its use of Ovechkin or any other Russian players in marketing initiatives. Other Russian NHL players under contract with CCM Hockey include Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin and Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
“Although Mr. Ovechkin is not responsible for the Russian government’s actions, we took the decision to not use him (or any Russian player) on any global CCM communication at this point,” CCM Hockey CEO Marrouane Nabih said in a statement to TSN.
One day after Russia invaded Ukraine last week, Ovechkin answered questions at a press conference, during which he was neither supportive nor critical of Putin.
“Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — we have to live in peace,” he said.
Ovechkin has been supportive of Putin in the past, going as far as campaigning for him in 2017 through a social media movement called “PutinTeam.” His current profile picture on Instagram is of him and Putin.
But when he was asked whether he still supported Putin, Ovechkin dodged the question.
“He‘s my president,” Ovechkin said Friday. “But like I said, I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete. I hope everything is going to be done soon. It’s a hard situation right now for both sides.”
Ovechkin isn’t the only Russian athlete getting a cold shoulder from sponsors.
Russian cross-country skier Alexander Bolshunov, who won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in February, has been dropped by Norwegian ski apparel company Swix. Brav, Swix’s parent company, announced Monday that it would end all business in Russia and cut ties with Russian athletes, including the 25-year-old who was previously the face of the clothing brand.
However, most Russian athletes have kept their sponsors — at least so far.
There’s no indication that retired tennis star Maria Sharapova or retired UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov — among the handful of elite Russian athletes whose global star power approaches that of Ovechkin — have lost any endorsements.
Sharapova was once the world’s top woman tennis player and is the best female player in Russian history.
Nurmagomedov, who retired last year, is one of the greatest fighters in UFC history and is the most popular Russian citizen on Instagram with 33.1 million followers. Neither have spoken publicly about the war in Ukraine.
Another Russian athlete who hasn’t seen the same blowback as Ovechkin is Daniil Medvedev, who recently passed Novak Djokovic as the world’s No. 1 male tennis player. While Medvedev and other Russian tennis players are not allowed to play under Russia’s flag, no sponsor publicly cut ties with the 26-year-old.
#kiddontstopdreaming pic.twitter.com/veNwRIkKnx
— Daniil Medvedev (@DaniilMedwed) February 27, 2022
A key difference between Medvedev and Ovechkin is that the tennis star has kept Putin at arm’s length, unlike “The Great 8.” But that doesn’t mean Medvedev has been critical of Putin. He released a statement on Twitter Sunday that called for “peace in the world,” but gave no mention to Ukraine.
Some Russian athletes, though, have been more outspoken about the war. Tennis player Andrey Rublev protested the invasion by writing “No War Please” on a television camera following a match at the Dubai Championships on Friday.
Soccer star Fedor Smolov became the first player from Russia’s national team to speak out against the invasion when he posted the hashtag “NoToWar” on Instagram.
Nikita Zadorov, an NHL defenseman for the Calgary Flames, joined the anti-war sentiment on Instagram with a post that said “NO WAR” and “STOP IT!!!”
Biathlon champion Larisa Kuklina took the same stance with her Instagram post that showed a heart sharing the colors of Russia’s and Ukraine’s flags and the caption: “What’s going on!? Pull up! We live in the 21st century!”
Ovechkin has been criticized for not going as far as some of his fellow Russian athletes. The Capitals star, who is five goals away from passing Jaromir Jagr for third on the NHL’s all-time goals list, was called a “liar” and “chicken s — t by Hockey Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek.
“What!? Not only an alibist, a chicken s — t, but also a liar!” tweeted Hasek, a Czech Republic native, about Ovechkin. “Every adult in Europe knows well, that Putin is a mad killer and that Russia is waging an offensive war against the free country and its people.”
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• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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