(Interfax – March 16, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the chiefs of the Russian sports to refrain from politicizing the situation related to the meldonium use and from framing a ‘conspiracy theory’ with regard to Russian athletes. “Firstly, nothing should be politicized and no conspiracy theory should be promoted,” Putin said at his meeting with government members, […]
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The drug that has been banned since January 2016 may lead to the disqualification of several leading Russian athletes in the wake of the Maria Sharapova scandal. However, Russian officials and athletics insiders disagree on who should take responsibility for the latest doping debacle to engulf Russian sports. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – TIMUR GANEEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH […]
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MOSCOW. March 10 (Interfax) – Russia expects explanations from the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, following the inclusion of meldonium drugs in the list of banned medicines, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “I don’t want to gibe, I only want to say in all seriousness: those professional opinions about the justifiability of this step of the WADA that […]
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The fallout from Maria Sharapova’s failed drug test has ensnared her native Russia as it becomes clear that the banned substance found in her system is creating wider problems for Russian sports. … she … tested positive for meldonium during the Australian Open in January, shocking the tennis world …. in Russia, meldonium, also known as mildronate, was a common […]
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(Interfax – January 19, 2016) The Summer Olympic Games cannot be imagined without a rivalry between Russian and American track and field athletes, Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said. “Track and field athletics is the queen of sport. [Athletes] will compete for 47 medals [at the Olympic Games]. I will also say that I cannot imagine any tournament without a […]
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(Kremlin.ru – January 8, 2016) Vladimir Putin met with Russia’s national judo team at the Southern Federal Centre for Sports Training Yug-Sport. During the meeting, the President presented the Russian passport to national judo team head coach Ezio Gamba. Earlier, Vladimir Putin took part in a training session with judo players. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, Thank you very […]
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(Interfax – November 21, 2015) One quarter of Russians – 25 percent – believe the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) charges against Russian track-and-field athletes are groundless and can be explained by hostile attitudes toward Russia in general, the Levada Center public opinion foundation told Interfax after conducting a poll of 1,600 respondents in 134 populated areas in 46 regions of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 13, 2015) An independent commission by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recommended that the Russian athletics federation be declared “non-compliant” with anti-doping code, and be suspended from track and field competition, the report published Monday said. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastien Coe asked that Russia respond to the 350-page […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 12, 2015) Russia may introduce harsher penalties for doping, possibly making it a criminal offense, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said at a press conference, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. “There are a number of measures we can take,” Mutko was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti on Wednesday. “We can introduce new kinds […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexandra Tyan – August 18, 2015) On Saturday, the organization Sports Dream and Gorky Park hosted a special table-tennis training session for kids with Down syndrome and their families. From 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., 10 children with Down syndrome and their families had an opportunity to attend one-on-one training sessions with professional table-tennis coaches. […]
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Fresh allegations over doping in international athletics have cast plenty of shame and doubt. They also reveal the west’s political prejudices and ignorance. (opendemocracy.net – Rolf Fretheim, Thomas Rowley – August 14, 2015) Rolf Fredheim is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Cambridge, where he works on […]
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The New York Times covers Russian efforts to turn Kazan into a center for sporting events. A cultural hub for 1,000 years, the city has spent the decade since its 2005 millennium celebration reinventing itself as the cynosure of Russian sports. Since 2007, the city has hosted world and European competitions in field hockey, ice hockey, fencing, boxing, bandy and […]
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As the Russian state continues its conservative turn, could this fringe sport push back against the country’s gender politics? (opendemocracy.net – Ulrike Ziemer – July 23, 2015) Dr Ulrike Ziemer is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Winchester. Her research focuses on gender inequalities and young people from ethnic minorities in Russia. Recent publications include a monograph Ethnic […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jennifer Monaghan – July 7, 2015) As the country gears up to host the next World Cup tournament, interest in football has hit an all-time low in Russia, with most people saying they don’t watch the game, state-run pollster VTsIOM showed Monday. Seventy-three percent of Russians said they were indifferent to football, the pollster found, compared […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – June 18, 2015) Most Russians think that corruption allegations against officials at FIFA, football’s governing body, leveled by U.S. investigators last month are an attempt to prevent Russia from hosting the 2018 World Cup, according to a survey published Wednesday by state-run pollster VTsIOM. A total of 65 percent of respondents said […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Henry Kirby in London – June 4, 2015) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/bnechart-russians-against-kremlin-spending-money-crimea-or-world-cup] An overwhelming majority of Russians are against state money for health and education being redirected toward other areas of the economy, according to a recent poll by the Levada Center. In the wake of announcements that Russia’s revised 2015 budget will increase defence […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtime.com – Lara McCoy – May 28, 2015) To celebrate its 10th anniversary this spring, the Russian edition of Yoga Journal didn’t make plans for a huge party, or even a special yoga retreat. Instead, the magazine marked the milestone by launching an extensive analytical survey of yoga in Russia and its practitioners, which appears in the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – May 27, 2015) Russia’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup is under criminal investigation on corruption suspicions, Switzerland’s attorney general announced May 27, after investigators seized data and documents from the Zurich headquarters of soccer’s global governing body FIFA. The move comes only weeks before the draw for the qualifying rounds […]
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(RFE/RL – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, May 25, 2015) A prominent member of parliament for the ruling United Russia party has drafted a bill to allow enterprises to employ thousands of convicts as a cheap workforce to build infrastructure for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The legal amendments reported on May 25 in leading business daily Kommersant create a mechanism […]
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Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, has financed the success of Shakhtar Donetsk FC. But war in the Donbas means that the club is now playing in Lviv, 1200 kilometres away from its home in Donetsk. Can it survive? (opendemocracy.net – Manuel Veth – March 11, 2015) Manuel Veth is a history PhD candidate at King’s College London, researching the economics […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – February 7, 2015) The Winter Olympic Games in Sochi were supposed to give an impetus to the development of the Russian economy, with the Central Bank anticipating that Russia’s GDP would grow by 1.8 percent in 2014, partly as a result of the Olympics. However, observers say that sanctions […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 11, 2014) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev struck an optimistic note throughout a 1 1/2-hour news conference Wednesday, drawing attention to what he viewed as Russia’s crowning achievements of this year: the Sochi Olympic victory and the annexation of Crimea. Medvedev spoke about a wide array of issues, from the economy to […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Anna Boiko, special to RBTH – September 7, 2014) Baseball has struggled in Russia, but is showing signs of life among the nation’s youth. The all-American sport of baseball has few fans among the Russians, who have long favored soccer or hockey. Yet the game has its own history here, and its own […]
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[“Domestic focus sinks Russia, rings alarms for 2018 World Cup” – Reuters – 6.27.14] Reuters covers Russia’s soccer (football) woes. Even as Russia is slated to host the World Cup in 2018, Russian soccer reportedly is not poised to excel. Ironically, the situation is attributed, in part, to high salaries. The massive wages paid by Russia’s domestic clubs mean good […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – James Ellingworth, special to RBTH – June 19, 2014) The recent clash between hockey greats Vladislav Tretiak and Viacheslav Fetisov for the presidency of the Russian Hockey Federation epitomized the ideological dilemma that has long plagued the nation’s team sports – which comes first, club or country? Thirty years after winning Olympic gold […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – June 11, 2014) As the World Cup kicks off on Thursday, Russian soccer circles have tempered their expectations for Team Russia, juggling realistic goals with the farfetched hope that their team will capture the globe’s most prized championship. Leading U.K. bookmaker William Hill had set Russia’s odds of winning the tournament at […]
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MOSCOW, May 27 (RIA Novosti) – The victory of Russian team at the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship is significant for the development of hockey and other sports within the country, President Vladimir Putin said during a prize-giving ceremony for team members in the Kremlin. “Our triumph in Minsk is very important for promoting hockey and sport within the country,” […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – May 2, 2014) The 2014 Winter Olympics have already gone down in history as the most expensive Olympics ever, but now they promise to set another record in terms of profits generated by the organizers. The funds from sponsors alone will bring the Sochi Organizing Committee $1.3 […]
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(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI, February 28, 2014) For perhaps the first time since the Olympic Park project was conceived and the first stones were laid in 2007, the hub of sports facilities and venues on the Black Sea coast in Sochi looked deserted. What was once occupied by phalanxes of excavators, road rollers and trucks […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 25, 2014) Following the Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin answered questions from Channel One, Rossiya-1, NTV, and RBC TV journalists. IRADA ZEYNALOVA (CHANNEL ONE): Mr President, I would like to begin by congratulating you. The successful Olympic Games are being praised by everyone who was there: IOC members, athletes, guests and fans. Nearly everything went smoothly, without a […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 25, 2014) Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said in a television interview that he thinks criticism of the recently concluded Sochi Winter Games was motivated by rivalry in international politics. Many in Russia have bristled at perceived excess criticism of some aspects of preparations for the Olympics, from sometimes incomplete accommodation to the reportedly exorbitant cost […]
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SOCHI. Feb 24 (Interfax) – Events such as the Sochi Olympics demonstrate to the whole world that Russia is no stranger to hospitality and success, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Events such as this are certainly of a nationwide nature, uniting people around absolutely positivity, boosting our sense of dignity while at the same time showing our country’s openness to […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – February 21, 2014) Following the Sochi women’s figure skating finals, I am having a “Leave Britney Alone” moment. “Leave Britney Alone,” of course, was a popular meme that resulted when a fan upset about criticism of Britney Spears took to YouTube to support the singer and voice his hysterical frustration with her […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 21, 2014) With three days to go until the Winter Olympics in Sochi draw to a close, fears are growing among many Russians that the apparent tolerance of President Vladimir Putin toward critics of his government in the run-up to the games will dissipate after the last foreign participant leaves. The […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andy Potts, special to RBTH – February 19, 2014) The friendly atmosphere and general lack of restrictions on what spectators can take into the venues at Sochi make a refreshing contrast to the usual experience at sporting events in Russia. At first glance, the sight of a sports fan sitting in an arena […]
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Subject: RUSSIA REPORT FEBRUARY 2014 Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 From: Sharon Tennison <sharon@ccisf.org> Friends, despite the fact that Ukraine is burning as I finish this report, I want to complete my thoughts about the Sochi Olympics before giving opinions on the Ukrainian issues. The Sochi Olympics have been a high point in this new year for me. And I […]
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[“Sochi Olympics Official: We Realized Hotel Problems ‘Too Late’; First Public Explanation for Rocky Launch of 2014 Games; ‘Red Alert’ Sounded” – Wall Street Journal – Matthew Futterman, Gregory L. White -February 17, 2014 – online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579388882111244174] The Wall Street Journal covers the various glitches and delays in the preparations for the Sochi Olympics: The International Olympic Committee’s chief coordinator for […]
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[“The culture of corruption: Russians pay, but they don’t like it” – Washington Post – Timothy Frye – February 17, 2014 – http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/17/the-culture-of-corruption-russians-pay-but-they-dont-like-it-2/] The Washington Post features Timothy Frye, Columbia University political scientist and Director of the Harriman Institute for Russia, Eurasian and East European Studies, writing on Russia’s culture of corruption: A central theme of the Sochi Olympics has […]
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[“Russia Struggles Past Norway to Make Olympic Hockey Quarterfinals” – R-Sport – February 18, 2014 – http://en.ria.ru/sochi2014/20140218/187658612/Russia-Struggles-Past-Norway-to-Make-Olympic-Hockey.html] R-Sport covers Russia’s Olympic men’s hockey team as it advances to the final eight: Alexander Radulov scored two goals and an assist to help Russia to a 4-0 win over outsider Norway in the first round of the Olympic men’s hockey playoffs. In […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI – February 18, 2014) Every night of the Olympics, celebratory fireworks light up the dark sky above Sochi, a vivid reminder that what is purely a sporting event for television audiences watching from home is a non-stop festival for visitors on the ground. Since there are no sporting events in the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI – February 17, 2014) Political overtones reared their head at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Saturday night as Russia and the U.S. played each other in a tense hockey game. After the Cold War hockey rivals found themselves tied 2-2 at the end of overtime, the U.S. team won after eight […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI – February 17, 2014) Russians tend to become reticent when approached by reporters at the Winter Olympics. In contrast, North Americans and many Europeans show no qualms at all. They go up to reporters on their own initiative and are not wary about giving their last names. They also volunteer details […]
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[“Olympics – Tolstoy’s words ring true as Putin goes for Sochi gold” – Reuters – Timothy Heritage – February 14, 2014 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/14/us-olympics-halfway-idUSBREA1D0VN20140214] Reuters covers the Sochi Olympics, commenting that at least some concerns voiced prior to the Olympics seemingly have been mitigated: For all the talk of war from Islamist militants before the Sochi Games started, the Russian organizers […]
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