Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist July 2018 | Page 43

CULTURE CONNECT
HOSTING THE
FIFA WORLD CUP
SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY
AT ITS BEST
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin
T
he FIFA World Cup 2018 came to a successful
conclusion in Moscow on 15 July 2018, with the
tournament's top two teams - France and Croatia -
battling it out for the ultimate trophy. France were the eventual
victors, beating their European compatriots 4-2 in the highest
scoring World Cup fi nal since 1966, bringing an end to an
eventful six weeks of football and national revelry as millions
of fans and supporters gathered in Russia as well as in front
of television sets/screens across The world to witness the
pinnacle of all international football events.
In the hullabaloo of the excitement surrounding the
tournament, it became no longer signifi cant to many that
Russia was hosting this year's World Cup. In the years since it
was awarded the right to host the event, back in 2010, Russia
has displayed a spectrum of egregious behaviour - both in
and outside the sporting world.
Inside sport, Russia is most notorious for its wide-
ranging state-sponsored doping programme, which came
to a head during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
(Russia) when positive-testing urine samples from Russian
athletes were swapped for negative ones. Russian athletes
were subsequently banned from fl ying their national fl ag
and competing under the Team Russia name at the 2018
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Outside the world of sports, Russia has been in a standoff
with the West over a range of issues. Primary among these
relates to the forceful takeover of Crimea, a region that was
legally a part of Ukraine, in 2014. Russia's support to the
Assad regime in Syria as well as its dubious human rights
record back home have been other issues which served to
bring into question its choice as host nation for the 2018
football extravaganza. In the last few years, Russia was faced
with threats of boycotts or being stripped of its hosting rights.
Furthermore, there were additional concerns over the potential
for hooliganism in Russia during the event, given the history
of racism, nationalism, homophobia and sexism that has been
well-documented in Russian football.
However, despite the continuing debate over host nation
Russia and protests by human rights advocates and liberals
in different parts of the world in the months leading up to the
tournament, football fans from around the world travelled to
Russia to witness the spectacle in addition to the millions of
fans watching from their homes. All concerns about Russia
as host nation evaporated as the tournament progressed.
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 7 • July 2018, Noida • 43