Putin's Victory

The New Republic on the Russian football team that eliminated the Dutch and is one match away from the Euro 2008 championship game:

There's much to be said for healthy sports nationalism, and it's certainly not unheard of, particularly in Russia, to use sport as a means for promoting love of country. But Russian politicians are now doing it so overtly that the team seems irretrievably infused with the animating spirit of Putinism--one part inferiority complex, two parts rising superpower. Said then-prime minister Viktor Zubkov before Russia's critical October qualification match against England: "They have 11 players, and we have 11 players. They have two arms and two hands and one head each, and we have the same. But do you know what the most important thing is? We, Russians, won World War II. And we were the first in space." After Russia came from behind to win, pro-Putin parliamentarian Alexander Babakov exulted, "This victory will only boost Russia's rebirth."

The first place to look in order to explain Russia's success is to its Dutch-born coach, Guus Hiddink. Hiddink is one of the most highly regarded minds in international soccer, having led the Netherlands, South Korea, and Australia to impressive finishes in the past three World Cups. When Hiddink's contract with Australia expired in 2006, nations lined up at his doorstep to hire him--including powerhouses like England, not accustomed to being turned down. Russia outbid them all, because only Russia boasts a stable of exceedingly wealthy men who are all but compelled to fund the country's athletic-industrial complex. Hiddink's $4 million annual salary is paid by gazillionaire oil magnate Roman Abramovich, who spends a total of $55 million each year--more than the annual budget of the national soccer federation--paying players and coaches and building soccer facilities in Russia.

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"Putin has been clawing back the country's assets from the oligarchs and forcing them to invest their enormous riches in Russia, including Russian football," Jim Riordan, formerly a professor at the University of Bradford in England and an expert on Russian sport, told The Observer. "If they refuse, they know they will lose not only their assets. They could end up down the Volga."

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Ordinarily, a [Russian] player who's been as impressive in a major international tournament as Arshavin has would bolt his current club team for a lucrative contract in Spain, England, or Italy. Arshavin may well do that, but it won't be for financial reasons: He makes upwards of $100,000 a week with his current team, Zenit St. Petersburg, and since the team is bankrolled by the state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom, it won't have trouble upping that if needed. "He wants to play for Barcelona, but I don't think they can pay him more than he earns now," boasted sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

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(The phenomenon extends to other sports, too: A new Russian hockey league, backed by Gazprom, has offered Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin a record $15 million to ply his trade back home.)

Of course, it's easy to see Russia's athletic renaissance as something far darker than it is. There are worse things an authoritarian petro-state could spend its money on, and any country with 140 million people can be expected to have its glory days. And we can be glad that athletic talent, unlike global power, isn't zero-sum. But when the Russians take the field against Spain in Vienna tomorrow, you may want to think about cheering for the Iberians.