On Tuesday, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin harshly opposed legionnaires in Russian sports. He was outraged that they “take money” for receiving the GTO badge and sports categories in sections, and talented athletes are taken abroad. looks into how the words of a high-ranking official will affect the sports landscape in Russia and whether an outflow of foreigners from the country will begin.
Professional sports devours too much “Because I'm tired of all this: these legionnaires take them from Africa and other countries. What is this? Shame! And the child goes with his grandmother to the section – they take money from them in order to get GTO badge and fulfill the category – again they take money. This is what we must oppose,” it seems that a lot of Russians can subscribe to Volodin’s words. Indeed, the topic of inviting foreigners to professional clubs has not lost its relevance for 30 years now. And if it begins to be discussed at the very top, and in a raised voice, it means that Russian sport is at a certain bifurcation point.
Most recently, Oleg Matytsin left the post of the country’s Minister of Sports, and Mikhail Degtyarev should be approved in his place. The department will remain tasked with meeting key indicators of federal projects, as well as conducting at least some constructive dialogue with foreign colleagues about lifting sanctions and returning to the international arena. But an unambiguous signal has already been given: the state should focus on mass and children's sports, and not on professional sports, which consumes too much money.
One of the main expenses of professional clubs is inviting foreign players. You don’t have to go far, let’s take as an example one of the flagships of domestic football, St. Petersburg Zenit. Last winter alone, the Blues and Whites spent over 30 million euros on four Brazilians. And if you look at the standings of the Russian Championship and ask yourself what the efficiency of these purchases is, the answer will be clear. In such a difficult period that Russia is going through, such expenses can (and do) irritate not only deputies.
Players from the USA travel even in the conditions of the SVOParadox, but after the start of the SVO the number of foreign players in Russian sports has not decreased catastrophically. Thus, representatives from the United States continue to come to the clubs of the Continental Hockey League (KHL) and the VTB United League in large numbers. Football, after March 2022, faced a wave of refuseniks who hastily and uglyly left the RPL. But after that the situation stabilized, clubs found other ways in the transfer market, focusing on Eastern Europe and Latin America. Therefore, we can state that the situation with foreign players has not worsened quantitatively. They are simply an order of magnitude weaker than those who came to Russia five to seven years ago. Not to mention the era of Wagner Love, Hulk, Witsel and Eto'o. Therefore, a reasonable question arises among the highest echelons of power: if there is no difference between imported legionnaires and local craftsmen, why pay more?
The idea of sports protectionism, I repeat, is far from new. Everyone remembers the significant dialogue between Vladimir Putin and the then president of Zenit, Sergei Fursenko, that took place in 2017, when the head of state teased the functionary, recalling the large number of foreigners in the club. But then this was not perceived as a call to action, because our teams competed in Europe, and athletes, although with restrictions, went to the World Championships and Olympics. Now the disposition has changed a lot. Professional sports in the country is now at the stage of rethinking its values, and sanction pressure, coupled with the desire to isolate Russia, may lead to an attempt to gradually abandon foreign players. However, this is unlikely to be feasible, especially in the near future.
We must understand that Russia, even in the current difficult situation, remains and will remain a great sports power. This title implies not only maintaining a high status and level of professional sports, but also its openness, lack of discrimination on national and other grounds, readiness for dialogue and interpenetration, mutual enrichment with the systems of other countries. We do not intend to completely sever ties with international actors, which means radical measures, which include the potential refusal to invite foreign athletes, are unpopular. The harsh words of politicians about legionnaires are simply a harbinger of a more stringent financial audit of state corporations that have sports clubs on their balance sheets. This only means that they need to align their purchases on a price-quality scale. And if this can be accomplished, it is unlikely that sports fans will be against it.
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