Priti Patel has cancelled visas issued to Belarus’ men’s basketball team over their country’s support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, on a day where the sporting world showed its disdain for Russia’s aggression in the region.
The Belarus team had been due to play Britain in Newcastle in a world cup qualifier on Monday. The match was postponed on Friday by the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) after an “evaluation of the current security situation”. The Netherlands’ scheduled match against Russia, scheduled to take place on Saturday, was also pulled.