Breaking up with Russia

Vladimir Putin had many friends in sport but now those who were so quick to praise him are swiftly trying to cut ties. Duncan Mackay explores the view from Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine.

For many years, Vladimir Putin had been sport’s favourite world leader. Wanted somewhere to hold your event? Then the Russian President was usually extremely happy to roll out the hospitality for you.

Needed a sponsor to help keep the wheels moving? State energy provider Gazprom or one of the banks backed by oligarchs could be persuaded to write a big cheque. Looking for some stardust sprinkled over your World Championships? Then Putin himself would be happy to turn up if you thanked him in the appropriate way.

In fact, Putin’s trophy cabinet at the Kremlin was overflowing with awards and honours. From Olympic Orders to black belts and the badges of honorary roles awarded to him by International Federations, every governing body wanted to show their appreciation to a man who has always championed his love of sport.

It must, therefore, have been something of a shock to Putin when, after the invasion of Ukraine, these same federations began stripping him of the honours they had been falling over themselves to award only a few years earlier.

The International Olympic Committee led the way by stripping Putin of its “highest honour,” the Olympic Order, which it had given to him in 2001. This was only a year after he was elected as Russian President for the first time.

The International Judo Federation had made Putin its Honorary President, World Taekwondo had given him an honorary black belt and the International Swimming Federation had awarded him the “FINA Order” in recognition of his contribution to “the fraternity between nations”. Putin has lost them all now.

It signalled the end of the Olympic Movement’s love-affair with a man who, in the memorable phrase of the German journalist Jens Weinreich, had led the IOC around the ring by the nose for the past 15 years.

In 2007, Putin turned up at the IOC Session in Guatemala and persuaded the delegates to award the 2014 Winter Olympics to Sochi, a resort which at the time had only one functioning ski lift.

The IOC was quick to condemn Putin and urge IFs to act, but beyond stripping him and other key Russian Government officials of awards it has bestowed on them, has refused to take any meaningful action.

DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov is among officials who have come under pressure in their sporting roles.

Photo: Getty Images

It has not removed the Russian Olympic Committee from the Olympic Movement. Instead, it has urged IFs to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes, passing the responsibility for action on to others. Such a move is unsurprising, given the IOC’s past tolerance for Russian abuses, particularly when it comes to doping.

Plenty of people believe that the refusal by the likes of IOC and FIFA Presidents Thomas Bach and Gianni Infantino to fully confront Putin over issues as diverse as doping and gay rights helped embolden him and made him believe he could get away with what he wanted, culminating in his invasion of Ukraine.

Little wonder then if Putin has been left bewildered at the speed with which his “friends” have turned their back on him. Trade sanctions will clearly hit Russia over time, but the withdrawal of major sports events from the country and blocking its athletes from competing internationally is the most immediate manifestation of the world’s anger with Moscow.

In turn, Putin has raged against how sport has quickly turned Russia into a pariah state.

“Russia has constantly warned its partners against using double standards and the principle of collective responsibility in sports,” Putin said during a special televised ceremony in the Kremlin to honour Russia’s Olympic medallists from Beijing 2022.

“Guided by the Olympic Charter, we are convinced that the Games are not competitions of countries, but of athletes.

“We remain open to broad, constructive interaction with everyone who values sports principles.

“The great traditions of national sports will be continued and multiplied. We will make every effort to ensure the rights of our athletes, we will hold competitions open to all our friends and true partners.

“For Russia, there are no unfriendly countries in sports. We are happy to welcome everyone who stands for sport without discrimination and artificial restrictions, for its ideals of justice, equality and fair competition.”

For Putin, sport has been a vital and high-profile arm of Russian foreign policy ever since he was elected, which makes it all the more laughable when he leads calls for an end to the “politicisation of sport”.

The cynical way in which the Kremlin has weaponised sport, particularly through its state-sponsored doping programme, will leave a scar on the Olympic Movement for generations to come.

Even before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia had not been able to participate fully in the Olympics since it hosted them at Sochi 2014, because of sanctions imposed as a result of its illegal doping scheme.

But athletes like double Olympic fencing champion Sofya Velikaya, the chair of the ROC Athletes’ Commission, have perpetuated the belief that Russian athletes are being unfairly targeted.

“We went to Tokyo under the flag of the ROC,” she said. “We all the time hoped that the restrictions and pressure that were put in our direction would end. But it only grew.

“Everyone should be on an equal footing - to perform under their own flag and with their own anthem. Now the Olympic Movement is a big question. Until equal conditions are created, I would not go to the Games.”

ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov, a four-time Olympic fencing gold medallist, has been among Russian officials forced to resign or step down temporarily from roles within international organisations. Also the President of the European Fencing Confederation, a motion of no confidence was placed on him following the attack on Ukraine.

“We are witnessing more and more naked attempts to bypass, and, in fact, violate, the foundations of the continental, if you like, European legal tradition, and simply legality,” he said.

“When, for the sake of politicised orders, punitive measures on a national basis became possible, contrary to accepted international norms, regulations and rules.

“This testifies to nothing else but degradation - both professional and ideological. First of all, of the management system and the foundations of legal regulation. It is increasingly being replaced by directive, Euro bureaucratic law.

“Even in such a situation, we will continue to defend the rights of Russian athletes and our federations. The conceptual, frankly biased, approach will end sooner or later, and we will prepare for this moment, including in the legal plane.”

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, the former President and

DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

The sporting world, including IOC President Thomas Bach, previously had a cosy relationship with Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty Images chief executive of Sochi 2014, was, along with Putin, stripped by the IOC of his Olympic Order. He has claimed that the way sport is treating Russia will set a dangerous precedent. "The IOC takes its decision to present the Olympic Order on merits directly related to the Games," Chernyshenko told insidethegames in March. "Just as it does medals to competitors in the Games themselves. "In Russia only five people, including the President, have therefore been presented with the Golden Order. Unlike the proper decision that took place in advance of awarding these honours, the impulsive posturing behind their revocation simply aligns the Olympics to political ends, undermining the spirit of the Games and the never-before-seen success of the Sochi Games. "The IOC has opened a Pandora’s box to be exploited by historical revisionists, and all sport should be concerned by its eager willingness to do so." Unless you are stuck in Russia, it is impossible for someone thousands of miles away to appreciate the dilemma athletes there currently face. They know condemning the invasion will lead, not only to the end of their careers, but will certainly endanger them and their families. Zenit Saint Petersburg and Russian goalkeeper Stanislav Kritsyuk is one of the few who have spoken out on the subject. In a short message, posted shortly after the invasion, he said: “All these days I, like many of us, are restless in my soul. It would be possible to find an excuse - ‘sport is out of politics’ - and focus on training. But this is just an attempt to deceive yourself. “Because I am not only a football player, but also a person, a citizen, a father, a son. And I am against anyone suffering and dying. To the world - peace, any human life is a value, clear skies above everyone's heads! This is how I was taught from childhood.”

But Kritsyuk’s team-mate Artem Dzyuba, Russia's captain, refused to condemn the aggression and, in response to calls for him to speak out about the situation, posted a strident message on Instagram.

“I am not afraid that I am Russian,” he wrote. “I'm proud to be Russian. And I don't understand why athletes have to suffer now. I am against double standards. Why is it that one can do everything, and they hang all dogs on us?

“Why has everyone shouted about sports staying outside of politics but, at the first opportunity, when it comes to Russia, this principle is completely forgotten?

“I repeat, war is scary. In stressful situations, people show their true essence, sometimes negative.

“How much anger, dirt and bile has now been poured on all Russian people, regardless of their position and profession?

“Those thousands of people write insults and threats.

“It is doubly strange to hear all this from people to whom Russia has given very, very much in their lives. All this only creates more negativity.

“The war will end but human relations will remain, and it will be impossible to rewind back. Keep this in mind.”