Why is it important for Putin that Russian athletes compete abroad?

2023-04-26 08:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Why is it important for Putin that Russian athletes compete abroad?

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

As Russia's war in Ukraine enters its second year, Russian athletes are hoping to return to the sports fields again.

The International Olympic Committee has recommended that competitors from Russia and Belarus participate as neutrals in future international competitions.

This decision has been criticized by Ukraine, which has spoken openly against the participation of Russian athletes in the competitions.

Like other countries, Russia has used international competitions to showcase the power of its athletes.

But what makes Russia unusual in this regard has to do with the level of government and military involvement in producing athletes who command international awards.

These attempts also include the doping program, which has cost some Russian athletes exclusion from competitions.

The Wimbledon tennis championships have lifted bans on Russian and Belarusian players, as long as they do not support the governments or leaders of their countries.

Such a decision was taken despite calls from the Ukrainian sportswoman, Elina Svitolina, for Russians and Belarusians to be excluded until "innocent Ukrainians continue to be killed".

The Russian Ministry of Defense has been involved, for decades, in training programs for athletes so that they achieve extraordinary success.

Military ties

The most popular military program in Russia is known as the Central Army Sports Club.

Hundreds of trainers are employed in that program and it is believed that over 10,000 athletes are trained in it.

The club - soon to be 100 years old - has been so successful that its members have managed to win most of the medals at the last Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo in 2021.

In those competitions, Russian athletes competed as part of the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) team, after the national team was banned due to allegations of state-sponsored doping.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with military athletes at a post-race award ceremony and told them to immediately begin preparations for the next Olympics.

"There is no time to lose, you have to start working", he told the athletes.

"We will do everything we can, so that you will be prepared for the next races."

Another popular sports program associated with the Russian military is DOSAAF (Voluntary Association for Assistance to the Army, Aviation and Fleet), which dates back to the 1920s.

The Ministry of Defense is involved in the funding and leadership of this association, which is headed by a general.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described it as a "true school of the brave", which has helped train many military commanders, cosmonauts and pilots.

This association has also produced several Olympic medalists, including Vitalina Batsarashkinan, the first Russian athlete to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

She was trained at the Club for military and practical sports techniques in the city of Omsk, in Siberia.

Celebrating the gold medal, DOSAAF called the victory "the highest form of patriotism".

Doping

The Russian Government's hunger for victory in sport is perhaps best demonstrated by the doping program.

This program was unveiled at the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, in which Russia topped the list of medalists.

In November of that year, in the investigations carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency, Russia was accused of "major fraud".

The agency said it found evidence of "direct interference by the Russian state" in the laboratory operations where the athletes' samples were taken.

In 2016, another report by this agency revealed that more than 1,000 Russians – including Olympic medalists – benefited from the state-sponsored doping program between 2011 and 2015.

After these revelations, Russia has been excluded from international competitions.

Moscow has denied that it runs a doping system for athletes, and President Putin has only said that "the doping control system in Russia has not worked".

But why is it so important for the Russian state to reap victories in the sports arena?

The famous Vedomosti newspaper has argued that the Russian government wants to use the athletes' victories to keep Russians happy and united when things are not going well in other areas.

"We need victories as a way to patriotism with doping doses", the newspaper said.

"Victory is part of state policy".

But this policy has fallen into the water, as the state doping program has been highlighted, and Russia has been banned from international competitions.

Russia was later excluded from the competition, also due to the sanctions imposed by the West for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

According to Vyacheslav Fetisov, a famous former hockey player, two-time Olympic champion, and now a member of the ruling party, United Russia: "We are the most disgraced country in the history of international sports"./ Rel