British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe has warned against calls from the Ukrainian president to boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia over the "conflict between the two nations," according to Nick Purewal of the PA. Coe, the former chairman of the LOCOG, believes sporting boycotts only "damage competitors and athletes." Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said that the country's allies should consider boycotting the 2018 World Cup if Moscow "does not pull all of its troops out of his territory." Coe: "I will always oppose boycotts of sport, because I don't think they actually achieve what they set out to do. The only people they really damage are competitors and athletes." Poroshenko said that he will push German Chancellor Angela Merkel toward "tougher sanctions against Russia." Poroshenko: "I think there has to be discussion of a boycott of this World Cup. As long as there are Russian troops in Ukraine I think a World Cup in that country is unthinkable." Coe, however, believes politicians should use sport as a "soft power" to try to "bring about change through inclusion rather than exile or boycott" (PA, 3/16).
