MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The world of sport appears to be softening the hardline stance it took when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Russian athletes are back competing under their own flag at the Paralympics. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the international ban on Russian soccer teams “has not achieved anything.” And his counterpart at the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, insists all athletes should be allowed to “compete freely."
Oleksandr Usyk remains as resolute as ever.
“My opinion has not changed — this should not be happening," the Ukrainian heavyweight world boxing champion told The Associated Press. "People who support the killing of others, the bombing of civilian cities, hospitals, schools, and everything else should not have the right to take part in the Olympic Games.”
Usyk has been a defiant symbol of his country's strength during the conflict, establishing himself as the most dominant heavyweight of his era. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers in history as a unified champion at two weights.
He proudly wraps himself in his country's flag after each win — a show of solidarity toward his compatriots fighting on the home front.
No surprise, then, that he has strong views on Russia's readmission to the world of elite sport.
The Russian national anthem has rung out at gold medal ceremonies at the Paralympics in Milan Cortina for the first time in more than a decade.
Russian athletes have previously been allowed to compete as as individual neutral athletes during the ban. But a speech by Coventry, the new IOC president, during the Winter Olympics last month was widely interpreted as paving the way to Russia taking part in the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028.
She said athletes should not by held back "by the politics or divisions of their governments.”
Her comments appear to be the direction of travel in the world of sport.
In an interview with Sky News last month Infantino said world soccer's governing body FIFA should “definitely” look at lifting its ban on Russia.
The 39-year-old Usyk says sport should continue to take a stand.
“The Olympic Games were created as games of peace,” he said. "But now someone who kills on another person’s orders and launches missiles at another country is allowed to take part in sport — that is complete absurdity.
“If somebody is even following the orders of his commander-in-chief to go and fight, then they cannot also go to sports competitions and represent their country there. Let them continue being a soldier. Because in the evening they are killing, and in the morning they compete as athletes. That simply doesn’t add up.”
The undefeated Usyk returns to the ring against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Egypt on May 23.
Further down the line he wants a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury - who recently announced his comeback from retirement - having already beaten the British boxer twice.
“In my head, Tyson Fury, it’s the last dance,” he said.
Both fights with Fury were in Saudi Arabia, which has established itself as a stage for elite sport, such as F1, tennis and the soccer World Cup in 2034.
The Iran war, however, has caused disruption in the Middle East.
Iran has made retaliatory strikes in the region and there is uncertainty over whether a soccer match between Argentina and Spain in Qatar later this month can go ahead amid the widening crisis.
An ATP Challenger Tour tennis event in the United Arab Emirates was canceled after players fled the court when a nearby oil terminal was reportedly hit by a drone attack.
“Given the situation currently unfolding in the world, my task is simply to be ready for what I am preparing for,” said Usyk, regarding fighting again in Saudi Arabia. “Then the organizers will decide where it can be held — where they can stage this show so that it is safe for all participants and spectators.”
Associated Press reporter Illia Novikov in Kyiv contributed to this report.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Ukraine's boxer Oleksandr Usyk attends a press conference in Wembley stadium in London, Thursday, July 17, 2025, ahead of the boxing fight between Britain's Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, file)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-Muslim rhetoric from some Republicans in Congress intensified this week against the backdrop of the Iran war, with multiple lawmakers — including one who said “Muslims don’t belong in American society” — drawing condemnation from Democrats for their remarks but little pushback from GOP leaders.
The derogatory language has been percolating among Republican officials for months, often prominent when criticizing New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim. But against the backdrop of the Iran war, a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, and attacks at a synagogue in Michigan and a college in Virginia, the tone sharpened this week.
“The enemy is inside our gates,” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville wrote Thursday in response to a photo of Mamdani sitting on the ground during an iftar dinner at New York City Hall. The photo was juxtaposed with a picture of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hours later, Tuberville doubled down: “To be clear, I didn’t ‘suggest’ Islamists are the enemy. I said it plainly.”
The rhetoric intensified Friday as GOP lawmakers responded to the attacks in Michigan and Virginia by urging a halt to all immigration into the United States. Some singled out Muslims specifically.
For many Muslims, it's a political moment that carries echoes from the early 2000s, when the 9/11 attacks and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars generated hostility toward Muslim communities in the United States, often accompanied by discrimination and racist violence.
“When members of Congress speak, it’s not just words,” said Iman Awad, the national director for policy and advocacy for the Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action. “It shapes public perception. It legitimizes prejudice.”
Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles in his social media post stated flatly that Muslims don't belong in the United States. He stood behind it after criticism mounted, later writing that “paperwork doesn’t magically make you American” and that “Muslims are unable to assimilate; they all have to go back.”
Asked about Ogles’ post on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken to members “about our tone and our message and what we say.” He said Ogles used “different language than I would use,” but added that he believes the issue raised by the comments is “serious.”
“There’s a lot of energy in the country, and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem," Johnson said. "That’s what animates this.”
Sharia is a religious framework that guides many Muslims’ moral and spiritual conduct. References to “Sharia law” have often been invoked by officials to suggest Muslims are attempting to impose religious practices on communities in the United States.
Many Republicans point to a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas as proof of “Sharia law” — though the developers have denied the allegations and said they are being targeted because they are Muslim.
With Johnson not condemning Ogles’ remarks — or to recent comments from Florida Rep. Randy Fine that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one” — the anti-Muslim rhetoric grew louder. After the photo circulated of Mamdani at the iftar dinner, several Republicans responded with critical posts.
Democrats broadly condemned the GOP messages. Chuck Schumer, the leader of Senate Democrats, called Tuberville's post “mindless hate.”
“Islamophobic hate like this is fundamentally un-American and we must confront and overcome it whenever it rears its ugly head,” Schumer said.
Mamdani — in response to Tuberville's post that “the enemy is inside our gates" — said: "Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers.”
Federal officials identified a man who rammed his vehicle into a hallway at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, this week as a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon. Officials have said that the man had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native Lebanon last week, just after sunset as they were having their fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan
In Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University before ROTC students subdued and killed him. Court documents showed that he had previously served time for attempting to aid the Islamic State and was released less than two years ago.
Some Republican lawmakers claimed vindication for their views. Others pushed for legislation. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the House GOP’s whip, said “the security of our nation hinges on our ability to denaturalize and deport terrorists.”
West Virginia Rep. Riley Moore said he would introduce a bill to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who “commits an act of terrorism, plots to commit an act of terrorism, joins a terrorist organization or otherwise aids and abets terrorism against the American people.”
Similar rhetoric and policy pushes have surfaced before and drawn controversy. Last year, protesters connected to demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war were arrested and targeted by authorities, including former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist the government has sought to detain and deport.
Middle East conflicts bringing domestic tensions is nothing new. With the war in Gaza, both Muslim and Jewish communities have faced faith-based discrimination and attacks.
Mamdani said the posts invoking the 9/11 attacks are problematic not just because of the words, but because of "the actions that often accompany them.”
“I think too of the smaller indignities, the indignities that many New Yorkers face, but that Muslims are expected to face in silence,” Mamdani said. “Of the exhaustion of having to explain yourself to those who are not interested in understanding. Of the men who introduce themselves by their given name only to be called Muhammad for years on end.”
The stark silence from Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump, reflects a broader change in the party. After the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Republican President George W. Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., to explicitly warn against Muslim discrimination.
“America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country,” Bush said during the visit, adding: “They need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.”
“Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior,” Bush said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Rental Ripoff Hearing at Fordham University on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
FILE - Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., arrives for a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - The U.S. Capitol is seen at sunrise March 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
