Ever since Russia won the 2018 World Cup bid it has been surrounded by controversy. With recent political events this has become even bigger news and many have even suggested that Russia should be stripped of the right to host the World Cup in 2018. The other side of the argument that rarely gets heard is why Russia should host the World Cup.
The recent crisis in Ukraine has brought Russia and Eastern Europe under the microscope. However, this has been largely in a negative light and now this has naturally moved into the subject of sport and the 2018 World Cup. The current situation in Crimea is confusing to say the least and is not as black and white as many believe. Most people there are more than happy to be part of the Russian Federation, although there are questions as to the speed with which the referendum was conducted. Either way, the recent annexation has meant that the football dynamic has changed in that region. After protests from the Ukrainian Football Association, UEFA are refusing to recognise matches that Crimean teams play in the Russian League and Cup competitions. This means that UEFA has got involved in a hot political issue which is generally something which I believe sport should stay out of. However, having become involved, UEFA does need to decide on this issue and will want to be seen to be standing firm when it comes to situations like this. FIFA will clearly eventually follow UEFA’s lead on this and, in the meantime, have released a statement saying:
‘FIFA President Blatter … reiterated that FIFA will handle the ongoing matter concerning Crimean football clubs based on the relevant processes that should be overseen by the respective confederation (UEFA) in the first instance.’
However, FIFA show no sign of reversing their decision to give Russia the 2018 World Cup and it is interesting that UEFA are seemingly backing Russia on the issue of the World Cup but not the situation with the Crimean clubs. It is also noteworthy that St. Petersburg was awarded a place as a Euro 2020 host, indicating that UEFA seem to have no problems with Russia hosting international competitions but in domestic football their stance is different.
Russia is not the first country to have held a high profile international sporting event while under the cloud of unresolved territorial issues. In 2008 the Olympic and Paralympic Games were held in Beijing despite Chinese territorial issues.
More recently of course Russia has been associated with the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. I believe there is very little understanding in Western society of the reasons for Russia’s controversial involvement. Ever since 1945 when the Soviets lost an estimated twenty seven million people in the ‘Great Patriotic War’, Russian governments have been obsessively worried about their borders. Until 1989 Russia was protected by the Eastern European satellite states, the neighbouring former Soviet Union territories and finally the Russian border. Since 1989 NATO and the EU have expanded their influence eastwards up to a point where the Russian nation now feels threatened.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the present situation are, I believe that politics should not be allowed to interfere with sport. Many football fans will be looking forward to a World Cup in Russia – a country which still remains largely unknown to most people and, according to Winston Churchill was, and I believe still is: ‘… a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’
A further controversy that has blighted Russia’s recent reputation is the ‘Anti-Gay Law’ introduced in the summer of 2013. However, this law has been taken somewhat out of context because it does not make homosexuality illegal in Russia but is rather a ban on spreading what their government calls ‘Gay Propaganda’ amongst minors: punishable by a fine. This is not to say that this bill is justified but, in world sport, it must be compared with how other countries hosting international sporting competitions view homosexuality. For example, the African Cup of Nations will soon be hosted in, amongst other countries; Morocco and Cameroon, where same-sex relationships are potentially punishable by imprisonment. Also, in 1994, well before the 2003 Supreme Court decision legalising gay sex in all American states, the USA was allowed to host the World Cup. Additionally, the AFC Asian Cup has also been hosted by countries where same-sex relationships are illegal namely Qatar, UAE, Malaysia.
Anti-gay laws in several other countries where international sporting competitions take place have been largely ignored by the media. While the media debated the rights and wrongs of the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi earlier this year because of the ‘Anti-Gay Law’, the England One-Day Cricket team were travelling to the West Indies. There seemed not to be any real controversy about this despite the fact that certain nations in this area have anti-gay laws. The team played matches in Antigua & Barbuda and Barbados. In Antigua & Barbuda there is a possible fifteen year jail sentence if two people are convicted of having gay sex and in Barbados the sentence can be life imprisonment. The England Cricket team will soon head out on a winter tour, this time to Sri Lanka which is another country where same-sex relationships are potentially punishable by imprisonment. India, a country which has recently criminalised homosexuality, will also be hosting several international cricketing competitions in the future.
Will the sporting world boycott India? Section 377 is the law in Kolkata, India that bans gay sex.
If certain people are pushing for a boycott or a cancellation of a sporting event in a particular country because of its stance on homosexuality, i.e. Russia, it follows that all other countries with similar legislation must also be boycotted and, as this will emphatically not happen, it would be unfair to only victimise Russia.
A further reason why people are calling for FIFA to take the World Cup away from Russia is the high level of racism in Russian football. This is a very understandable argument and there is undeniably a problem with racism in Russian football, which the Russian Football Union are trying to curb. However, hosting this tournament could help deal with this problem as the Russians will be aware that they will be in the media spotlight. Hopefully the population will want to lay this bad reputation to rest and show themselves as a country that welcomes anybody whatever their creed or colour.
Before the European Championship of 2012 in Poland and Ukraine there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the tournament. High profile ex players such as Sol Campbell lamented the fact that the tournament was taking place in two countries where racism was obviously present in football. However, these championships were generally deemed a great success with little or no racism. Despite sensationalist pre-tournament documentaries such as Panorama’s ‘Stadiums of Hate’, (in itself a rather provocative title which dammed two nations), visitors were welcomed into two very friendly countries. Since this tournament took place, racism in Polish football seems to have dwindled with much less talk of how it grips the Polish game. Ukraine also saw an improvement in how it was regarded, with many fans stating how they were surprised by the hospitality they received in the country. Many also said they would return to Ukraine should a major event be held there again. The view that Polish and Ukrainian football supporters were purely thugs was proved the nonsense that it was and this will undoubtedly be the same with Russia in 2018.
England fans in Donetsk, Ukraine react to Sol Campbell saying: “Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don’t even risk it… because you could end up coming back in a coffin.”
A further reason why Russia should keep its place as host of the 2018 World Cup is the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and Paralympics. These were a great success and, with the glitz and glamour that was brought to us in southern Russia, winter sports were thrust into the limelight. Once more, there were arguments beforehand saying the games should be boycotted because of the issues mentioned above. However, these games were successful and showed a part of Russia that few people know, namely the Black Sea coast, a region we will get to see again in 2018. Both athletes and fans were welcomed to Sochi with open arms and experienced the legendary Russian hospitality. Having said that, journalists did complain about the hotel rooms in Sochi, quite rightly as a few of them were unacceptable. However, with 2018 still being some years away, Russia will hopefully prepare better hotel rooms for 2018. Despite this, one tweet at the time really aggravated me. It was from the editor of an Ice Hockey blog who complained about having to throw loo paper in a separate bin rather than into the system itself. Perhaps if he’d known a bit more about where he was going he would have realised that this was not due to bad preparation but is actually widespread across Russia and indeed other parts of the world, including Europe. Keeping the World Cup in Russia is essential to break down these barriers of ignorance.
If the World Cup were to be taken away from Russia this would cause far more problems than it would resolve. When Russia won the right to host the tournament, Russian sceptics said it was just another opportunity for the people in the Kremlin to line their pockets. However, as the tournament approaches, the Russian population will start to get excited about it. If it were to be taken away it would infuriate the Russian government, probably making any future political negotiations virtually impossible. More importantly, the Russian people would see this as another attempt by the West to hit them and would only confirm their belief that they are disliked by the West. With improving relations since the breakup of the USSR in 1991, taking the World Cup away from Russia would be an irreversible step backwards. Sporting events bring tourism and in 2018 visitors will have an opportunity to interact with real Russians rather than believing that Russians are still communists in a backward society downing their vodka. With the arrival of so many visitors in 2018, Russia and its peoples will be more appreciated and the interests of the Russian nation will be better understood.
Hopefully such memes will be a thing of the past after 2018.
There are, as well as political reasons, footballing reasons why the World Cup should remain in Russia. The Russian Premier League is a vastly growing entity with the backing of big business. These businesses are willing to invest large sums of money into Russian teams in order to enable these teams to become European footballing heavyweights. This money has allowed world class players, football legends and other highly rated players to come into the Russian Premier League. These include such individuals as Roberto Carlos, Hulk, Samuel Eto’o, Ezequiel Garay and Yann M’Vila and such star names really promote the Russian league. Supporters are not naive enough to believe that these players are coming over purely to promote the Russian game but they realise that this investment in star players has helped Russian football grow immensely over the last few years. However, in comparison with the English Premier League, the Russian Premier League is far-sighted with its restrictions on foreign players. Currently a Russian team is only allowed to have seven foreign players on the pitch at any one time in a Premier league game; this regulation will last until 2017 when the number will then be reduced to six. This allows young Russian players to play alongside talented foreign players rather than being replaced by them. Despite a disastrous 2014 World Cup under Fabio Capello and the failure of the ‘golden generation’ that shone at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, the 2018 World Cup could see a rejuvenated Russian national team that has been formed in this improved Russian Premier League. Staging the World Cup in 2018 will bring Russia onto the football world stage.
Samuel Eto’o and Roberto Carlos – two of football’s world stars who have recently played in the Russian Premier League
Despite a complicated situation surrounding the construction of the New Zenit Arena in St. Petersburg, after Gazprom pulled out because of financial complications, we are unlikely to encounter the same problems with the stadium building as happened in Brazil. Although Russ is a country that can’t seem to rid itself of corruption, it does have a good enough infrastructure to host a World Cup. There are excellent public transport systems and already plenty of tourist facilities in places such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Therefore it would only be in lesser known cities such as Kaliningrad and Volgograd – rarely touched by tourism despite their fascinating histories – that would need major upheaval. In Russia the newly built infrastructure and stadiums would also be far more sustainable in the long term. In South Africa many of the stadiums from the 2010 World Cup have become white elephants and the same fate will probably happen in Brazil, particularly with venues such as Arena de Amazonia in Manaus. In Russia these new stadiums are being built in densely populated areas which have popular local football teams.
How the New Zenit Arena will look for 2018. Visit http://russianfootballnews.com/wc-2018/stadiums/ for more on Russian World Cup Stadiums.
Thankfully, UEFA president Michel Platini has said it is a ‘ridiculous idea‘ to strip Russia of the World Cup, and hopefully FIFA will follow suit. In conclusion, it seems only sensible to allow Russia to continue as World Cup host. Stripping a country of a tournament could cause severe repercussions both for FIFA, football in general as well as in international relations. FIFA giving Russia and Qatar the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively in 2010 clearly shows that FIFA wishes to expand the World Cup into previously uncharted territories. The Russian and Eastern European football market is an atom waiting to be released. FIFA are aware of this and are looking to profit from it. Russia 2018 is a safe and reliable option for FIFA after the chaos surrounding the preparations that preceded the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and with the continuing controversy surrounding Qatar 2022. To host the World Cup in Russia, with its already high level of infrastructure, means there will be significantly fewer concerns regarding planning and organisation.
The main point at issue is that this is a great opportunity to bring an important country like Russia onto the football world stage and to not take this opportunity could cause years and possibly even decades of stagnation.
Вперед в 2018 – Forward to 2018
References:
http://www.refworld.org/docid/52eb82e84.html
http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=search&docid=50b47ee52&skip=0&query=gay&coi=BRB
http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/change-laws-affecting-gays/
http://laws.gov.ag/acts/1995/a1995-9.pdf – page 6
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/lgbti2.pdf – page 6
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25927595