A comedian made a statement in 2015 by throwing money at then-Fifa President Sepp Blatter during a press conference. Photo / Getty
A comedian made a statement in 2015 by throwing money at then-Fifa President Sepp Blatter during a press conference. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
Kris Shannon runs through five reasons why sport should take some blame for Russia.
1. Fifa gave them the world
December 2, 2010, should be remembered as one of the darkest days in football history. In one announcement from Fifa president Sepp Blatter, the 2018 and 2022 editions of theWorld Cup, the crown jewel of football, were awarded to Russia and Qatar.
It felt wrong at the time and that feeling has since been justified.
Of the 22 members of Fifa's executive council who voted for those hosts, 14 have subsequently been banned for, credibly accused of or indicted for corruption or criminal schemes, including Blatter, mercifully booted from the sport in 2015.
Those cheques had long been cashed, however, and Russia had hosted a perfectly fine World Cup, easing visa restrictions for tourists and putting on their best face.
Crimea had already been annexed and Russian puppet states were flourishing elsewhere in Ukraine, but never mind, Kylian Mbappe was electric in that tournament.
Vladimir Putin, having readily accepted his invitation to football's top table, showed his gratitude by gifting new Fifa boss Gianni Infantino the Russian Order of Friendship medal.
2. Don't ROC the boat
Russian bobsleigh superstar Alexander Zubkov was one of the many athletes who had their 2014 Sochi medals stripped. Photo / Getty
Fortunately for Fifa, they could count on the International Olympic Committee taking a similarly flexible approach to morals, awarding Russia a Winter Games in 2014.
Sochi didn't quite rise to the levels of perfectly fine. The most expensive Olympics in history, the splurge on venues and accommodation proved, once the circus had left town, wasteful even by Olympic standards.
But that would have mattered little to Putin, especially as the greatest state-sponsored doping regime in history helped Russia top the medal table.
Their punishment for that wee infraction has been staring sports fans in the face for the last year, as athletes from the Russian Olympic Committee - not Russia - kept taking the top step of the dais while Tchaikovsky rang out around the arenas of Tokyo and Beijing.
Some punishment. The type to make Russia's preeminent chemists think long and hard before giving a 15-year-old figure skater three types of heart medication.
Similar to how blessing Putin with global sport's biggest events has clearly been enough to make him reconsider and resist any authoritarian urges.
3. Russia holding court
The IOC, to give them the tiniest amount of credit, did attempt to strip Russia of 13 of the 30 medals they claimed in Sochi. But as well as they do at the Olympics, Russia has enjoyed similar success at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The deliberative body reinstated nine of those 13 medals, and after the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2019 banned Russia from all major sporting events for four years, CAS accepted Russia's appeal and cut in half the suspension.
And, as has been all too clear, Russian athletes were granted permission to compete without the Russian name, flag or anthem.
Are we sure it won't happen again?
It does seem ludicrous for a European country to invade another European country and continue playing in European qualifiers for Qatar 2022.
And Fifa, after predictably toying with the idea of taking the "Russian Football Union" route, came to their senses and said the nation would take no further part in qualifying.
Seeking to prolong their winning streak, Russia immediately announced their intention to settle the matter in court and we are now waiting once more for CAS to decide their fate.
4. Cleaning up at a club level
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and businessman Roman Abramovich. Photo / Getty
The epitome of sportwashing was seen at Turf Moor on Saturday.
As Burnley and Chelsea players gathered pre-match to applaud in support Ukraine, the away fans thought it the perfect opportunity to sing out the name of owner and Putin ally Roman Abramovich.
Tone-deafness aside, it's understandable for Blues fans to pay tribute to an owner who last week announced he's selling up, lest the British government untangles itself from its own Russian links and sanctions the oligarch before he can cash out.
Abramovich brought to Stamford Bridge an unprecedented era of success, pouring into the club billions of pounds and launching a recruitment drive that in 2003 was unseen in English football.
And there are no doubt legions of Chelsea fans ready to explain the good Abramovich has done in the community or whatever.
But that's the purpose of sportwashing. Supporters, generally, care little where the money's come from. As long as it keeps flowing they will stand by their man.
Seeing his success on and off the field, Abramovich has been followed into football by owners from Qatar (Paris Saint-Germain), Abu Dhabi (Manchester City) and Saudi Arabia (Newcastle).
And football is more than ready to clean up any image. City's nation-state owner can abstain from a vote condemning Russia's actions midweek, then the players can make an earnest statement against war on the weekend.
5. Keeping calm and carrying on
War is bad for sports. Rough sentence, but it's true. The mess that has engulfed the World Cup playoff in Europe is only the latest example.
But football will always find a way. Just ask Shakhtar Donetsk, who since 2014 have been playing in three Ukrainian cities not named Donetsk, due to war in the region. Last year the club moved matches to Kyiv; now, they might need to find another new home.
Then there are the athletes - including Russians - whose sometimes fleeting careers are being disrupted by circumstances out of their control.
This was, at one point, more in sport's control, in Fifa's and the IOC's. That time has passed. Putin was treated like a good global citizen and welcomed to the sporting party.
Now that he's decided to take over the house, sport deserves some of the blame.
