English Premier League suspends broadcast deal with Russia's Match TV

Back in March, reports surfaced that the English Premier League and English Football League had suspended their broadcast contracts in Russia due to that country's much-maligned invasion of Ukraine. 

According to Reuters, Premier League television rights in the nation were about to switch from Rambler (Okko Sport) to the Gazprom-owned Match TV via a six-year contract worth about $53.91 million. However, Reuters and Amitai Winehouse have confirmed that Premier League clubs were informed Thursday morning this agreement has also been suspended. 

Per the stories, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on June 24, 2009 for Match TV to open. The suggestion is that a massive entity such as the Premier League does not want to be associated with Putin despite his insistence that the invasion of Ukraine is "a special military operation." 

As Phillip Bupp noted for Awful Announcing, Formula One and World Wrestling Entertainment previously ended contracts with Match TV because of the Russian invasion. 

Manchester City's Ukrainian midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko went viral last month when he draped the national flag of his country around the Premier League trophy after City won the top-flight title: