Not only about soccer

Nobody will obviously deny that, when a top-rate soccer competition, such as Euro 2016, is being held, sport should be separated from politics. Ideally, “pure” sport is a fair and superb victory over the rival without resorting to “illegal holds” or, moreover, violence. This equally applies to team supporters.

But what is to be done if a tournament includes the team of a totalitarian state (let’s call a spade a spade – the modern-day Russian Federation) together with specially trained fans who no longer confine themselves to calling for supporting the “invincible” Russia (“victory” has a distinctly political contest here, and the sport rival becomes an enemy!) and, moreover, hit the “enemy fans” with heavy metallic sticks just on the head or break through to the stadium grandstands with the “enemy fans” in order to stage a disgusting melee, leaving dozens of people injured? It is banditry.

The reader must be still smarting from the painful impressions and aftertaste of the Euro 2016 England-Russia match in Marseilles. The point is not in the result – a 1:1 draw. This also raises a few very serious questions of a far from sporting nature. Firstly, the French tolerant authorities dish out Euro 2016 visas to almost all the willing Russian fans (their number has reached an estimated 25-30 thousand. In particular, the Russia-Slovakia match on June 15 in Lille is expected to gather at least 26 Russian supporters), then show their total inability (unwillingness?) to punish them for criminal violence (incidentally, one of the injured Englishmen has died of a brain damage – it is murder pure and simple). The proof of this inability is the statement of a Marseilles prosecutor after the melee: we have detained so many English and French fans, but we have failed to detain the Russians, for they are very fast and agile. (However, some of them, a busload, were taken into custody later.) So do the authorities understand that these events are a slap in the face of not only French tolerance, but also of the entire Europe which likes it so much to waltz (albeit forcibly) with an unpredictable Russian bear? For it is about Putin’s fascism in the context of sport. The State Duma vice-speaker, an LDPR member, has already said approximately like this: “We’ve beaten the living daylights out of the bloody Englishmen!” In his turn, Lavrov is “indignant” at the attitude to Russian soccer supporters in France.

Let us move to the second important point now. Transportation of Russian ultras to France (via charter flights), was, according to media reports, supervised personally by Minister of Sport of Russia Vitaly Mutko, who is a close friend of Vladimir Putin, and a little-known (until now) man named Shprygin, chairman of the Russian soccer fans “NGO,” who has been linked to the Russian government as well. After unprovoked aggressive attacks on British fans at the stadium in Marseille, Mutko said cynically: “Such things did not happen and could not happen, because Russia is a civilized country.” No comment! Meanwhile, UEFA sanctioned the Russian team (which has had no player distancing himself from “their” bandits) with a suspended (!) disqualification. Is there a limit to the Europeans’ limitless tolerance? And it happened just as the Russian media went mad with anti-European hysteria, claiming that “Our boys are under attack!”

And the third point, the most important of all. This writer is deeply convinced that stripping Russia of the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup has long been overdue. This is a special, fundamental question. Although the corrupt bureaucratic elite of FIFA as well as European politicians of very high, the highest rank (and apparently dozens and hundreds of billions of Putin’s dollars) are involved in that project, it is vital to do so. If the West turns out to be afraid of taking this step (just as it is afraid of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT banking payments system and stripping it of the right to vote in the UN Security Council), it will just confirm its own failure. On such occasions, Adolf Hitler used to tell his “‘comrades” just how deeply he despised the powerless West. It seems like Putin feels similarly now.

“THE FANS WHO BEHAVE UNLAWFULLY MUST GET A RAW DEAL”

Andrzej SZEPTYCKI, expert, Institute of International Relations, Warsaw University:

“The fans who behave unlawfully – no matter if they are from Russia, Germany, or Poland – must obviously be given a raw deal. For they came to France to just break the law, not to watch soccer matches. Another question, which is about not so much Russia as about the philosophy of tackling these problems, is what should be done with the states from which these fans come. The question is whether or not Russia should be just thrown out of this tournament. On the one hand, especially if we are speaking of Russia, we know that these people are not fully independent, for they cooperate with the state. But I am not sure that it is worthwhile to punish the Russian soccer team and society as a whole – particularly because the Russian government will use this as proof of the fact that all of Europe does not like and is against the Russians. And it would perhaps be not so wise to further spoil these already very difficult relations.

“If this repeats, all kinds of other ways of influence can be used. Matches can be held without supporters. We do so in Poland – we hold matches at a closed stadium.”

“RUSSIA MUST BE MOST SEVERELY PUNISHED UNDER THE REGULATIONS”

Artem FRANKOV, soccer expert, editor, the journal Futbol:

“I cannot remember seeing this kind of events at a stadium during a European or world championship – supporters break through to their rival’s sector and begin a melee on this scale. Russia must be severely punished under the regulations in spite of any excuses – such as, for example, that its fans were provoked by placards, flags, or something else. No allegedly provocative portraits or torn flags can be an excuse. Besides, it should be very clear to what extent the national team and the national soccer association of a country can be held responsible for the behavior of some of its moral degenerates. I don’t think it is serious to presume that Russia may be stripped of the right to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup due to the behavior of its soccer fans. Sanctions of this kind can be imposed for a different reason – for example, because of a corruption scandal.

“All I can say is that if Russian ultras go on behaving like this, Russia will get out of the championship. I am sure it is a carefully orchestrated action on the part of ultras. They decided beforehand to meet at a certain place, and about 200 people purposely arrived at the championship to take this ‘action’ and thus prove that they are ‘the coolest ultras.’ Incidentally, UEFA itself forbids putting up barriers between the supporters of different countries at a stadium. Likewise, no police cordons are allowed. This is now boomeranging at UEFA and all supporters.”

“THE BEHAVIOR OF RUSSIAN FANS IS CONTINUATION OF THE KREMLIN’S POLICY”

Markian LUBKIVSKY, ex-director of the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament in Ukraine:

“It is the first and, at the same time, the last warning to the Russian Soccer Federation which bears full responsibility for the behavior of its supporters. I’d like to emphasize that UEFA regulations state clearly that only the national federation is responsible for the behavior of its fans. The first warning about suspended disqualification may immediately lead to more serious sanctions, such as expelling the Russian national team from the tournament.

“Incidentally, I will say even more: now that the tournament in France is underway, UEFA and FIFA are consulting about security and law-and-order, including the suitability of holding a world soccer championship in Russia.”

Is it realistic that Russia may be stripped of the right to host the 2018 World Cup?

“It is more than realistic. This is what experts, first of all, the UEFA management which is responsible for security, are discussing now. So, as far as I know, these consultations are in active progress today. Naturally, UEFA and FIFA will also negotiate security matters after the end of the tournament in France, but one should not give a double interpretation to or underestimate the UEFA decision – it is very tough and viable. If there are any violations on the part of Russian supporters, Russia’s team may be disqualified. Another important point: I don’t exactly agree to the comments that it is all about the behavior of supporters at stadiums. Let me remind you the way it was during Euro 2012 – the official places of a tournament also comprise fan zones, airports, headquarters, places of target groups’ location, and supporter’s assembly points. In other words, if any incident occurs, not only at stadiums, in which Russian fans are involved, UEFA will immediately make a decision, even about the expulsion of the Russia team from the tournament.”

If this happens, there will be a precedent…

“Yes, but I can see, judging by the brazen behavior of Russian ultras, that this does not scare them. In general, as a rule, when [national] federations receive a UEFA warning, their supporters immediately change the style of behavior, trying not to spoil the performance of their national team. As for the Russians, the impression is that, on the contrary, they bid defiance, openly show aggression, which UEFA will not tolerate. Incidentally, it is not ruled out that the Russians will show this kind of behavior because they are hosting a world championship. This means that no fans will perhaps come over, which FIFA will undoubtedly take a dim view of. As any commercial-oriented organization, it is interested in having as many fans as possible, in grandstands being filled, and in tickets being sold out. But it is not the worst scenario. The worst scenario for Russia is that it may be barred from hosting the 2018 tournament.”

Some of Russia’s politicians are fully supporting their ultras. For example, State Duma member Igor Lebedev said he rejects criticism of Russian fans.

“Unfortunately, this list is very long. I think it quite fits in with the behavior and comments of Zhirinovsky, his relatives, and many others. The behavior of Russian fans is continuation of the Kremlin’s brazen, arrogant, and cynical policy. It is an attempt to show force and set oneself off against the entire civilized world. While the world is battling against and trying to resist Russian aggression, they have a very simple and absolutely ironclad argument: ‘And we’ll punch’em all right.’ This is continuation of the hysteria about the West and its values, which results today in a totally unbridled behavior of fans.

“By the way, I want to remind you that UEFA and FIFA are serious partners of Russian companies. Their contracts are worth hundreds of millions. However, stadium security is much more important and valuable for international soccer functionaries than millions- or even billions-worth contracts with Russian companies. We should not forget that if human lives are in danger, these organizations will choose to sever any relations – they will be prepared to disqualify national teams and, naturally, to break off ties with the federation of the country that flouts the principles of soccer and sport competitions.”

“I CONSIDER IT STRANGE THAT UEFA IS TAKING NO ACTIONS AGAINST LEBEDEV PERSONALLY FOR SUCH NASTY COMMENTS”

Ian BOND, Director of Foreign Policy, Center for European Reforms, London:

“I think both the French authorities and UEFA must take a much tougher attitude to this kind of organized hooliganism – first of all, because it obviously receives some official support. The proof of this is that Aleksandr Shprygin, a far right activist and organizer of extreme racist fans, was an accredited member of the official Russian delegation at the championship, while Igor Lebedev, State Duma vice-speaker and member of the Russian Soccer Union’s Executive Committee, highly praised the fans’ actions in an interview with Life.ru. I in fact consider it strange that UEFA is taking no actions against Lebedev personally for such nasty comments which encourage hooligans to think that the Russian Soccer Union and perhaps even the government of Russia approve of the use of violence against foreign soccer supporters.

“As for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, I have always believed that granting Russia and Qatar the right to host world championships in 2018 and 2022, respectively, was the result of corruption in FIFA, and I hope sufficient evidence of this will be available before 2018. Violence and racism, which seem to have permeated Russian football now, add to my worries about what kind of a world championship we will see in 2018. I don’t know if a certain country is prepared to intervene on such a short notice to substitute Russia as a hosting side, but FIFA should lose no time in drawing up contingency plans.”

Interviewed by Mykola SIRUK, Vadym LUBCHAK, The Day; Natalia PUSHKARUK