Russian sport and politics
Tbilisi. Is sport linked with politics? Should we separate sport and politics? What connections are there between sport and politics? - These are the issues that the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) touches upon in its publication – “Russian sport and politics”.
“Sport and politics are significantly linked to each other in the history of both contemporary and Soviet Russia. If the Soviet Union used sport to assert its superiority over the West and improve the reputation of the Soviet regime on an international level, the contemporary regime of Putin uses sport for several purposes: first of all, Putin associates his image with victory and power through sporting events and relevant propaganda; besides, such large-scale events as the Olympic Games and the World Cup are used by the Putin regime to rebrand its image internationally, on the one hand, while on the other hand, to consolidate Russian people at the time when there are serious socio-economic problems in the country; at the same time, there are influential businessmen from the entourage of Putin, who get actively involved in the sports field, control most of the sports clubs and organizations, and use them to enact various corruption schemes. Consequently, it can be noted that separation of sport from politics is virtually impossible in both contemporary and Soviet Russia. Russia still remains a state where business, crime, sport and politics are closely intertwined with each other”, - is stated in the publication.
Source: The website of the organization
