Sport must step up and use its soft power to shame Vladimir Putin and Russia.

UEFA has already taken the Champions League final away from St Petersburg and moved it to Paris, while Formula 1 has cancelled the Russian Grand Prix.

The decision seemed inevitable once drivers such as four times world champion, Sebastian Vettel, called for a boycott.

But these should be just the first steps towards removing Putin and Russia from the global sporting arena.

Historically, Putin has revelled in hosting sporting events, such as the World Cup and Olympics, to boost his ego and profile on the world stage.

Several sporting bodies need to answer serious questions as to why he was ever given the chance to hold them in the first place, given a substantial record of state sponsored corruption and doping.

It is good to see that Manchester United has broken its relationship with commercial partner, the Russian airline Aeroflot, following an example set by the German club Schalke has already done.

Schalke has also severed ties with its Russian energy giant, Gazprom. And it is also time for UEFA to end its £33million a year sponsorship from Gazprom for the Champions League.

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Fans are also looking at FIFA to ban Russia from the World Cup play-offs later this year.

As things stand, Russia and due to be playing Poland with the victor going on to play Sweden. Frankly, it would be unthinkable for Russia to be allowed to play.

At the same time, Ukraine are due to come to Scotland, but it would seem this fixture will be impossible to fulfil.

Russians have poured billions of pounds into the British economy in recent years amid claims much of these riches have effectively been stolen from the Russian people.

Most notable of these is Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, who was recognised in 2019 by the Home Office as having a link to the Russian state and admitting using his vast wealth to buy political influence.

Boris Johnson's attitude to Abramovich will shine a light on how serious the government is in tackling Russian influence and dirty money.

It was a little incongruous seeing the former Pakistan cricket captain and now prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, visiting Putin this week. We can only hope he was pushing the cause of peace.

Putin has spent three of the last eight Olympics Games either invading a country or coming close to doing so. As an international athlete myself I would feel uncomfortable playing unless action was taken.

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Cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga set a powerful example during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The pair decided to wear black armbands to 'mourn the death of democracy in Zimbabwe'.

Ukraine football international, Ruslan Malinovskyi, revealed a shirt with a message 'No war in Ukraine' after scoring for Atlanta last night. And I fully expect we will see similar messages from players over the weekend.

Sport's duty is to come together and oppose this cold-blooded attack. The T20 series India v Sri Lanka and PSL must follow Barcelona and Napoli and display the banner 'Stop the war'.

Each country ought to relish liberty and has the right to choose its path.

Sport must arise and play a vigorous part in bringing peace to Ukraine. 'We are all Ukraine' should be our slogan.