As some predicted, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has proved to be a drawn-out affair, a far cry from the swift conquest that the Kremlin powers that be had bargained for when they issued the orders for the invasion back in February.

With no end in sight, the peoples of the world – including those of us who are half a world away from the war theatre – should brace themselves for the consequences of the recklessness of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle. In other words, we will continue to pay exorbitant prices for fuel and other petroleum products, of which Russia is a significant global supplier but, being in the throes of Western sanctions, can only export at reduced volumes. As Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters, smaller quantities are being shipped from these countries, owing to the restrictions placed on Russia by Western governments and the closure of Ukrainian seaports. Owing to the economic principle of supply and demand, the smaller quantities available mean we will be forking out more for food for a long time.

Many people seem to have forgotten about a group of people who have been negatively affected – but in a different way – by the ongoing conflict. These are Russian sportspeople and their counterparts in Russia’s vassal State of Belarus. They are no longer able to participate internationally as most major sporting bodies have suspended the two countries. Regular readers would recall how, a few weeks back, I waxed indignant about the decision by FIFA, the global football regulator, and Uefa, the European equivalent of the Confederation of African Football, to suspend Russian teams – all for the sins of the country’s politicians. My beef was that FIFA has always crowed from the rooftops that politics and sport should not mix, which is why it ‘excommunicated’ the football federations of Zimbabwe and Kenya following interference in their affairs by the two countries’ governments. If politics and sports indeed do not mix, why then use purely political reasons to banish the Russian and Belarusian footballers and other sportspeople?

I was taken aback when former South African sports greats told the BBC last week that they were in favour of the suspension of Russian and Belarusian sportspeople from the international fold – never mind the fact that participating in sport is presumably their only source of livelihood. And the reason for their stance? It was the bans on South African teams and sportspeople during this country’s dark past that brought the apartheid overlords to the negotiating table. In all fairness to them, they also acknowledged the role played by other forms of pressure – including international economic sanctions and agitation by South Africans within the country and abroad – in the birth of the new South Africa.

One of the South African sports stars of yesteryear (who shall remain unnamed) told the BBC: “Economic and other sanctions also helped, but the impact of sports sanctions was very important, considering how popular sport is with South Africans.”

My interpretation of this soundbite is that this former star believes that it was the sports bans, more than the economic and other sanctions, that forced South African leaders from the opposite ends of the conflict to finally sit down and try to find each other. My view is that it was the other forms of pressure that eventually led to negotiations. The role of sports bans was minuscule.

So, my take is that making pariahs of Russian and Belarusian sportspeople is not going to move Putin even one inch. Ratchet up economic sanctions and come up with other ways of making him realise the folly of his ways and stop the ongoing carnage and devastation.

In the meantime, the Russian and Belarusian sportspeople must be allowed to earn a living.