Putin and sports -are they the secret behind his power?

Until recently, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president now at war in Ukraine, held great power over world sports.

Various organizations (Fifa, The International Olympic Committee, IOC for short, etc.) sought out Putin to get money for their sporting events. As a result, the head of Russia had a lot of  decision-making power in the world of international sports.

Vladimir Putin's career in sports began in 1963 in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), where he met Anatoly Rotenberg for the first time at the age of 11 in Anatoly Rachlin's sambo club.

This Russian oligarch, whose fortune is estimated at around $2.5 billion according to Forbes, owes his wealth to his friendship with Putin.

In 2014, for example, he received a government contract for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi after a bid, even though he had asked for more money for the project than other applicants.

Pictured is Vladimir Putin, who likes to put himself in the middle, in Sochi in 2019 with the Russian national judo team and Arkady Rotenberg (right).

In judo he received a black belt as an adult and became the Leningrad city champion. Besides judo, he enjoys doing karate, boxing and sambo .

Aside from martial arts, Putin is also interested in motor sports, hiking and skiing.

As a KGB agent, Putin worked in foreign espionage. When he wanted to join the KGB, he was told that he needed a degree. Close combat training was an advantage.

One of Putin's most well-known critics is former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who claims that world sports propelled Putin "down the path of aggression."

Sports are like a submarine for Putin, as part of a master plan to "undermine the free world," and not just in relation to Russia's investment in the Sochi 2014 Olympics and the 2018 World Cup.

Kasparov criticizes the way sports officials treat Vladimir Putin, saying he was "encouraged". The proximity of sports to the Kremlin arose out of convenience.

Pictured: IOC President Thomas Bach

"International sport serves as a useful tool for dictators," says Kasparov in an interview with ARD. It is a good opportunity to improve their image worldwide.

The sports federations helped Putin to expand his network of lobbyists and agents, the largest in the free world.

Sports officials all have direct and indirect links with dictators around the world, as it is easier to negotiate with them than to apply for grants in parliaments. "One dinner might be enough to get money from Putin," says Kasparov .

On the picture: Thomas Bach, President of the IOC.

It is striking that in recent years more and more sporting events have taken place in authoritarian countries such as the 2022 Winter Olympics in China and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Putin's network and influence in the sports world has been ruined by the attack on Ukraine. Many sports associations have turned their backs on him.

So now Thomas Bach has said goodbye to Vladimir Putin. And as Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said at the Beijing stadium: "I wish you all success and good luck. Thank you. Peace!"