Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the country’s general expulsion from the world stage. In addition to the political and economic sanctions imposed by national and supranational institutions, cultural and sports institutions are also taking steps to distance themselves from Russia.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommends ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, world and European football governing bodies FIFA and UEFA ban Russian teams from the Games, the Russian city of St. Petersburg was removed from the Champions League final of the season. and German Schalke have severed long-standing ties with state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom.
In the United Kingdom, Manchester United canceled a sponsorship deal with Russian state-owned airline Aeroflot, and perhaps most notably, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich announced that he was selling Chelsea to the Premier League side.
“I always made decisions with the club’s interest in mind,” Abramovich was quoted as saying. “In the current situation, then, I made the decision to sell the Club, as I believe that this is in the interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the sponsors and associates of the club.”
According to information, there are many interested parties and Abramovich said that “he will not ask for the repayment of any loan”. These loans are estimated at 1,5 1.5 billion (2 2 billion, € 1.8 billion). He added that “all net proceeds from the sale will be donated” to a charity he will set up “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”.
But unraveling all of Russia’s connections to world sports is an almost impossible task, given how deep the ties are. Russia has long been accused by human rights activists of so-called “sportswashing” – using investment in sports as a way to divert political or social problems at home.
The charge is usually leveled at Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, which deny that their respective ties to Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and, more recently, Newcastle United have anything to do with it. with the laundering of international rumors. Nor do they claim that the purpose of hosting major international sporting events such as the 2022 World Cup (Qatar), the F1 Grand Prix (Abu Dhabi) or the major boxing matches (Saudi Arabia) is to expose well-documented human rights violations. .
Sportswashing to distract from deficits at home?
Russia’s involvement in world sport, however, is more subtle.
“The link with the state remains, it’s just a different link with the Arab nations,” J. James Reade, who specializes in economics and sports, told DW.
To some extent, Russian sports laundry serves to distract attention from human rights and democratic deficits at home – as it did at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Kremlin’s efforts to manipulate views abroad are not new.
Allegations of Russian interference in both the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the US presidential election later that year remain widespread, according to the British anti-corruption organization Transparency International, citing the BBC. week, more than 1,5 1.5 billion ($ 2) bn) of real estate in the UK belongs to Russians accused of financial crime or links to the Kremlin.
“For a very long time, London was a place where people came to launder dirty money,” he said.
While a court case in December 2021 found that the purchase of the Chelsea Football Club by Abramovich in 2003 had no mandate or address from Vladimir Putin or the Russian government, the billionaire’s move to sell just as the British government threatened sanctions against Rich Russian man has renewed detailed control.
“Certainly Mr. Abramovich should no longer have a football club in this country,” MP Chris Bryant told the UK House of Commons last week, before Abramovich announced his intention to sell. “Surely we should look into seizing some of his assets, including his 150 150 million ($ 200) house, and make sure other people with a Level 1 visa like this are not involved in malicious activity in the UK?”
In making his allegations, Bryant used the British parliamentary prerogative to quote an excerpt from a Home Office report leaked in 2019, which, according to Bryant, stated:
“Abramovich is still interested [the British government] due to its ties to the Russian state and its public association with corrupt activities and practices. An example of this is that Abramovich admitted in court that he paid for political influence. [A UK court heard in 2008 that Abramovich paid money for “protection” in Russia, a phenomenon known as krysha – editor].
“Hence [the British government] It focuses on ensuring that those involved in illicit financing and malicious activity are not allowed to reside in the United Kingdom and will use the relevant tools at their disposal, including immigration authorities, to prevent this. “
Alisher Usmanov and Everton
Russian billionaires who have invested heavily in European football are not trying to make money.
“Football has no return on investment,” explains Reade. “It’s a kind of satisfaction, maximizing utility.”
Uzbek-born Alisher Usmanov was a former Arsenal shareholder and, until Wednesday, an investor in Everton’s English Premier League side. The company of USM Holdings financed the Everton training ground and Usmanov had an exclusive choice of 30 30 million ($ 40 million) in royalties for Everton’s new stadium, which is still under construction in Liverpool.
But Everton said in a statement on Wednesday: “The club can confirm that it has immediately suspended all commercial sponsorships with Russian companies USM, Megafon and Yota.”
Usmanov’s assets have been frozen by the European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an EU statement explicitly linking him to Putin. “Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with very close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he said. that it helped “materially or financially the Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine.”
Usmanov defended himself on Tuesday, calling the EU decision “unfair” and adding that “the reasons used to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations that damage my honor, dignity and business reputation.” .
He has since resigned as president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), while German authorities in Hamburg have seized the $ 600 million yacht “Dilbar”.
Despite the club’s ties to Russia, Everton players, including Ukrainian defender Vitaly Mikolenko, came out on the pitch on Saturday in Ukrainian colors, as did Manchester City rivals, including Ukrainian international Oleksandr Zinc.
The English champions of course belong to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and half-brother of the President of the United Arab Emirates, who on Saturday abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia. .
Money trail
And the European football associations continue. Ivan Savvidis, with close ties to Putin, is the owner of the Greek club PAOK. Maxime Demin controls English Bournemouth in the second division, Dmitry Rimbolovlev bought the French AS Monaco and Circle Brugge of Belgium and Valerie Oif owns the Dutch Vitesse Arnhem.
There are strict rules in some countries, such as Germany, that prevent the majority ownership of football clubs, but the Russians have thrown their money into other sports – in fact the sports are laundering their own background as much as Russia as a nation, while also anchoring the Russian money in the heart of Western cultural goods.
Mikhail Prokhorov owned the Brooklyn Nets NBA team, while the NHL of ice hockey in North America closed deals with Russian betting company Liga Stavok and search engine Yandex weeks before the crisis in Ukraine.
In Formula 1, the Russian Grand Prix of September in Sochi, which has been running since 2014, was canceled after the crisis in Ukraine, while Haas F1 removed the logo of the company of Russian investor Dmitry Mazepin, an ally of Putin, whose son Nikita owes. his place in the grid under the influence of his father. During an unforgettable 2021 season, matches were played in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, with Lewis Hamilton among those who expressed reservations.
The deep Russian money trail, which was intended to show how strong Russia has become in world sports, now threatens to unfold at twice the speed.
Additional Report by: Georg Braunschweig
Edited by: Matt Pearson
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