The Formula One Grand Prix, World Cup skiing events and international judo competitions have been moved from Russia.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also raised its voice in condemnation of the Kremlin's actions.

The IOC Executive Board "urges all International Sports Federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus," said a statement from Lausanne last week.

The UEFA Champions League final which was to have been staged in Saint Petersburg has already been relocated to Paris, and it is still not clear whether Russia will face expulsion from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have both indicated that they will refuse to play the Russians in playoffs, and a FIFA decree that Russia's name and flag will be banned has not satisfied their potential opponents, who are refusing to play them at any location.

Thirty years ago, the European Championship was faced with a similar situation when the Serb-dominated Yugoslav Government embarked on an aggressive war in the region.

At the time when the draw for the 1992 European Championship took place, the European map had already changed dramatically.

The Soviet Union (USSR) had qualified for the finals without losing a match, yet by the end of 1991, the USSR had ceased to exist as a political entity.

Following the break-up, a solution was agreed whereby athletes from former Soviet republics could take part in a "unified" team at the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics.

It was also decided that a team styled Confederation of Independent States (CIS) could take part in the European Championship. Prophetically some expressed concerns as to what might happen if players from Ukraine and the other new nations were to refuse to represent the CIS team.

Meanwhile, Yugoslavia had lost only one match as they too qualified for the final stages. Hackneyed though the term has now become, the Yugoslavs were regarded as a "golden generation".

At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, they had beaten Spain to advance to the quarter-finals, where they only lost on penalties to Argentina.

Then in 1991, Red Star Belgrade won the European Champions' Cup for the first time, beating Olympique de Marseille after a penalty shootout.

Players such as Dejan Savićević, Darko Pančev and Robert Prosinečki were key members of both the club and national teams.

Dragan Stojković had by this time joined Marseille and played against Red Star, but he was further evidence of the talent across available to the Yugoslavs.

The 1992 European Championship was to be held in Sweden. The draw was conducted by the legendary Nils Liedholm, himself an an Olympic gold medallist who had captained the Swedes to the 1958 World Cup final.

The tournament featured only eight teams divided into two groups of four.

Yugoslavia were placed in the same group as France, England and the host nation. The Yugoslavs were to play their opening match against England.

As the draw was made, the greatest concern of organisers seemed to be a resurgence of football hooliganism. There had been trouble when Germany met The Netherlands, and although English teams had been re-admitted to European club competitions the previous year following a five-year ban, there remained worries that unruly fans might use the tournament to cause trouble.

"We have an ambition to make everyone happy," UEFA President Lennart Johansson had said as he welcomed the finalists to his home country.

"We have to be prepared to handle problems in an intelligent way."

In Yugoslavia, tension between fans at a football match between Red Star Belgrade and Dinamo Zagreb escalated into violence which proved a foretaste of what was to come.

Although Marshal Josip Broz Tito had welded the disparate nations into an entity known as Yugoslavia after the Second World War, he had died in 1980.

In the decade which followed his death, latent tensions became more obvious and matters came to a head in the early 1990s. Serbia and Croatia clashed head-on and there was trouble across the region. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted independence, while Serbs wanted greater control of the territory.

In Bosnia itself, the Serb population formed a breakaway state adding to the climate of uncertainty and very soon, the Bosnian capital Sarajevo was under bombardment.

Less than eight years before, the city had hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.

To start with, officials were unsure as to the effect this might have on the European Championships. "Our priority is that those who qualified can play if conditions allow," UEFA general secretary Gerhard Aigner insisted.

"Something you have achieved in sport should be respected," he continued.

"The best competitors should be at the best events."

The Yugoslavs travelled hopefully to Sweden.

"The boys travel together and play together and do not care about nationality," officials claimed.

"We trust in a democratic decision," Yugoslav technical director Miljan Miljanić insisted.

"We have the right to play in Sweden as we qualified on the field,"

Very soon however, the makeup of the Yugoslav squad had changed.

Ivica Osim, the national coach who had built a burgeoning reputation, announced he was standing down. He had relatives in Sarajevo.

Other non-Serbs also withdrew from the squad.

The squad originally set up camp in the Swedish town of Ystad but this was close to a centre for Kosovan refugees.

Local police chief Bjorn Eriksson reported: "There have been threats against some members of the team so we have had to move them."

The Yugoslavian squad was relocated to Leksand but their location would soon become academic.

As the shelling of Sarajevo continued, the United Nations (UN) passed Resolution 757.

This demanded that "All parties and others concerned in Bosnia and Herzegovina stop the fighting immediately."

It also stipulated that UN member states should "Take the necessary steps to prevent the participation in sporting events on their territory of persons or groups representing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)".

As the Yugoslavs packed their bags in Sweden, Miljanić fired a parting verbal shot.

"The players are in a state of shock," Miljanić complained.

He described the decision as the "toughest measure taken in the history of international sport and an aggression against football."

As the team which had finished second in the UEFA qualification group behind Yugoslavia, Denmark were summoned to take their place. There was less than a fortnight before the competition was to begin and some players were said to have come straight from the beach.

"We will go to Sweden with a heavy heart," said Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

"How can anyone be happy with such a situation?"

Even so, Denmark, thrust into action at such short notice, drew 0-0 in their opening match against England.

They lost 2-1 against Sweden, but sealed their place in the semi-finals by beating France in their final group match.

In the semi-final the Danes won on penalties against a Dutch side including stars such as Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Ronald Koeman and Hans Van Breukelen, all winners in 1988.

In the final came the coup de grâce against the Germans who had won the World Cup only two years before.

Denmark took the lead with a spectacular effort from John Jensen. It was his first goal of the tournament and almost proved a once-in-a-lifetime effort. 

They added a second through Kim Vilfort to pull off the most unexpected triumph.

Denmark returned home as heroes but in Yugoslavia the fighting continued.

It was also an Olympic year in 1992.

By the time the world gathered in Barcelona a month later, the bombardment of Sarajevo still had not ceased.

UN strictures banning athletes from Yugoslavia remained in force but the IOC resolved it could not accept a decision of this kind and, in the teeth of considerable difficulties and by dint of direct negotiations with the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee, it prevailed upon the latter to revise its point of view.

As a result, athletes from former Yugoslavian republics were permitted to take part providing they did so under the Olympic Flag.

"Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian athletes, who did not parade at the opening of the Games, were thus allowed to compete as independent Olympic participants (IOP), wearing a white vest without distinctive sign, and with the Olympic anthem and flag to honour their victories," the official report of the Session said.

The concept was the genesis of what would eventually become a refugee team to allow stateless individuals to participate.

Recognition of the Bosnian National Olympic Committee was passed enabling those from Bosnia to participate but there came harrowing tales of athletes avoiding sniper fire as they attempted to prepare for the Games.

At the Opening Ceremony, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch used his opening address to call for a truce in Yugoslavia.

"This would be an Olympic Truce in the classical tradition and, perhaps, the beginning of a common bond and increase in civic behaviour," Samaranch said.

Although an Olympic Truce was thereafter adopted for every Games, his plea to stop the guns fell on deaf ears.

Two years later, at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics, Samaranch was forced once again to call for peace in Sarajevo. The IOC gave its backing to aid packages to the beleaguered city.

"How is it possible to see so much hatred?" Pirmin Zurbriggen, who had won downhill gold at the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics for Switzerland, asked.

"When we have known this region, when we have felt at home there, where we were given a wonderful welcome.  

"When we see what has happened now, it hurts."

It took a long time for peace to return to the now fragmented Yugoslavia.

Many will hope that the widespread condemnation of the conflict in Ukraine will be bring about a much swifter end to the fighting and violence.