The weekend saw emotional scenes at sporting events in Britain and Europe, especially in football, with players and fans displaying Ukrainian flags and statements decrying Russia’s invasion of the country.

Right from the start there were clear signs that this moment was going to be different, the understandable outrage towards Russia of a different order to anything seen before. Both the Football Association and the English Premier League, which usually prohibit political messages or protests, didn’t consider these expressions of solidarity a breach of its rules.

One by one sports events and governing bodies lined up to distance themselves from Russia, to the point where the country now finds itself all but excluded from world sport. The decisions taken in the past few days will have long-lasting implications, but they also throw up several questions which, for now, aren’t easy to answer.

For now these problems pale into insignificance compared to what’s happening in Ukraine, but the consequences of the past week present arguably the biggest challenges to world sport since the end of the Cold War and apartheid in South Africa.

Those issues, which always lacked a perfect solution 30 years ago, will be similar. What has changed in recent years is a decisive shift in the dynamics of power and influence across all sports. 

Arguably the collapse of the European Super League in football last year best demonstrated the major change that’s taken place in the relationship between those who run major world sports, and their fans and supporters.

The effects will be seen most obviously on the finances of sport - that applies to clubs, leagues and international tournaments. Manchester United have withdrawn the Russian airline Aeroflot's sponsorship rights. 

UEFA has terminated their £80 million ($106 million/€96 million) sponsorship deal with the Russian state energy company Gazprom. While these decisions have been welcomed across the board, they have at a stroke taken tens of millions of pounds out of the coffers of clubs and sporting bodies. This will have consequences.

The concern will be whether this will have an impact on the grassroots sports programmes that, directly or indirectly, those missing millions help to finance. It will be important to watch for any sign of events in Ukraine having a knock-on effect at home, and the onus will be on leaders in sport to make sure the invasion doesn’t affect participation in sport for kids and young people.

Their access to sport - including their fitness and even their dreams of one day becoming the next Marcus Rashford or Raheem Sterling - must not be hampered by events thousands of miles away.

It's also clear that this week has the potential to set a precedent, one that could have long-lasting consequences for sport. The power of social media to amplify campaigns and concerns is now feeding upwards in a way not seen before, and this has influenced politicians and multinational businesses to weigh-in and respond to controversies affecting sport differently. 

Will the world now take a different view on whether a country’s human rights record is more of a factor in deciding whether they’re allowed to play on the world stage than before?

It is now the case that when sport and politics combine, the effects ripple around the world with speed and magnitude, and decisions taken in response can no longer be seen through the top-down prism that they used to.

Fans that may have tolerated their club being under foreign ownership may now view things differently, with the pressure seen on Roman Abramovich and Chelsea FC possibly just the start of a broader rethink on who should own or run clubs in Europe. 

Politicians who have until now tended to steer clear of these issues - are clearly now more ready and willing to weigh in on them. The unanswered question is how far all this will go.

Finally, while it’s undoubtedly not on the top of the list of current concerns, questions will eventually have to be asked about when, or whether, to re-admit Russia, its teams, athletes and players, back into world sport.

While there’s absolutely no question of any of that happening, or even being considered, while Russian troops remain in Ukraine, ultimately sports governing bodies will have to address how long Russian sportsmen and women will be excluded from the rest of the world owing to the actions of the Kremlin.