Politics, crime and sports
Russia roared back from behind to spectacularly defeat England 2-1 at Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on Oct 17, increasing its chances of reaching the European Championship. The match unfolded peacefully on the artificial pitch, but the victory, Russia's most impressive since beating world champions France in 1999, was spoiled by violence. England went ahead in the 29th minute with a stunning volley from Wayne Rooney, although he looked offside.
Earlier, England seemed in control of the game, and few believed that Russia could come back. Fans sent off flares in the crowd after an hour, even though they usually wait for a goal first. Less than 10 minutes after the flares had been sent off, coach Hiddink's second-half substitute, Roman Pavlyuchenko, destroyed England with two goals in four minutes. First, Pavlyuchenko scored from the spot after Konstanin Zyryanov was fouled by Rooney. The foul appeared to have taken place just outside the penalty area, but the Russian team was still awarded a penalty.
Four minutes later, Pavlyuchenko pounced to score after England goalkeeper Paul Robinson parried a shot by Zyryanov. Russia is in third place with 21 points. If it wins the next two games against Israel and Andorra, it is guaranteed a trip to the finals in Austria and Switzerland next year. Before the game, Russian fans unveiled a gigantic national flag that stretched along most the side of the stadium and featured a bear with sharp claws.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, who attended the game, was quick to capitalize on the success by mixing sports with politics through vague nationalist sentiments, with state-owned Channel One television showing a recording of a meeting he had with players ahead of the game. "We won the Great Patriotic War and were first to fly to space and, therefore, you must win today too," Zubkov told the players. "You must do everything you can," he exhorted, cutting the air with his right hand. The meeting was highly reminiscent of Soviet times, when Communist bosses met athletes ahead of important games.
Several clashes erupted between Russian and English fans ahead of the game, and police accused the foreigners of getting drunk and stirring up trouble. “After they arrived they went straight for the pubs and clubs. The English fans are getting drunk and provoking conflicts,” a police spokesman said, Itar-Tass reported. “Police found several English fans on the street in a state of extreme intoxication.” More than 20 Russian fans broke into a bar on Novy Arbat three hours before the game and attacked a group of foreigners with hockey sticks, chairs and tables before fleeing, Ekho Moskvy radio reported. Police, however, denied that any incident had taken place, Interfax reported.
That is the whole story about the hidden agenda of political sports in the world. It seems the field of sports is linked to domains like trade, strategy, crime and politics. If cash and other lucrative prizes don't make any significant results in sports, then crime is invariably unleashed to win the matches "at any cost" or make victories "some-how".
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