The war in Ukraine is entering its sixth year. Despite that, large parts of the sports movement have begun to ease their restrictions vis-à-vis Russia.
The latest notable case is ice hockey. The Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas has ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF to allow the Russian national team to participate again. In the skiing world, "neutral Russians" are allowed to compete under a neutral flag this winter, while, for example, biathlon and athletics still have a total suspension.
- I suffer with the athletes who are talented and from the wrong country, but at the same time Russia should not be allowed to use sports as propaganda for its cruelty, says the former basketball player Martin Terins.
Several hockey confederations, including Sweden's, have said that they do not intend to play against Russia if they were to meet in a World Cup. Players have said they think it's right - even if Sweden would be punished for it.
Martin Terins himself was forced to take a stand in a similar situation at the peak of his career.
In 1980, he won SM gold with Hageby (which later became the Norrköping Dolphins) and was named player of the year in Swedish basketball. In the same year, despite a failed qualification, the Swedish national team got a free place in the summer Olympics in Moscow, after several countries refused to stand in protest against the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
For Martin Terins, who was then 21 years old, it was in a way a dream come true. But it also put him in a morally difficult position.
His parents had fled Latvia a couple of decades earlier to escape the occupation of the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War. Could he really go there to play basketball?
- There were definitely mixed feelings. An Olympics is still an Olympics. With all these world stars you otherwise only see on TV. I think it is very rewarding to be in such a context as an athlete, he says.
He also understood that this was likely his only opportunity to experience an Olympics as a player. The chances that Sweden would manage to qualify again during his career were small.
- At the same time, it was very easy to think of my grandmother, who was deported to a labor camp in Siberia and was gone for 16 years. On my grandfather, who was in the military, they shot directly. On all other relatives. Many did not manage to escape but were affected by the Russian purges. And those who remained had to watch their country break down.
The Latvian community and culture was very present when growing up in Sweden, where basketball was an important rallying point for many in the Baltic diaspora.
- There was a great hope among everyone that one day they would be allowed to come back to Latvia. Even if it was ambivalent, it was not difficult to abstain from the Olympics for these reasons, when you saw how someone does violence to a people and a country and deprives people of it, says Martin Terins.
Announcing the decision was made even easier by a torn tendon in his knee. He had surgery time which became the official reason why Sweden's then hottest player was not included in the Olympic team.
- I refused for reasons of loyalty. But I had several reasons, he says.
- There were no headlines at the time about "Martin Terins not going along". It was probably only mentioned that I was missing from the squad. There were several who were missing for various reasons.
He doesn't know if he would have made the same decision today if faced with the same choice, at the same point in his career. Partly, the sports world has changed, partly the idea of a boycott was more present around 1980.
A total of 65 countries boycotted the Summer Games in Moscow in whole or in part, led by the United States, which announced early on that it would not participate unless the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.
- If no one else boycotted, I probably wouldn't have stayed at home myself for those reasons, but bit the bullet and stuck with it. But as part of a larger boycott, where it was an option, I would probably have jumped at it again, says Terins.
- If you are part of a larger movement, I think that every such voice can be important to influence.
Now he watches with dismay how the opposition to Russia is crumbling in sports.
- I don't understand how Russia can be included when they still refuse to withdraw from Ukraine, says Martin Terins.
However, he believes that the focus should be on getting the decision-makers to change their decisions about allowing the Russians into competitions, rather than placing the responsibility on individual athletes. Certainly there are stars who today take a stand on various issues. But the sports world in 2026 is different from the one in 1980.
- Nowadays, sports are so much more professional. There are many more people who make a living from their sport today than there used to be. That's how much you risk losing. Also opportunities.
