Not us, say the Russians.

Day -957 WorldCup2018.

Many times between 1992 and 1995 my mother would ask me, "so explain to me again, in this Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian war, who's who and who are the bad guys?". We would have this conversation repeatedly, me telling her what I knew, from following the news, what the difference was between the Croats, the Bosnian Croats, the Serbs, the Bosnian Serbs and on and on. Who was I to say who the bad guys were. As we sat in front of our TV, watching the suffering of these poor people everyday, my opinion was of little value other than to put this on-TV war into some sort of understandable perspective.

Today I can imagine calling my Mum and her asking me, "so who are the bad guys now, the Russian athletes, the Russian coaches, the Russian drug testers, the Russian Sports Minister, or WADA?" And she would probably add, but maybe only to herself and because she watched sport and had her favourites more for the personality than the results, "just as long as it's not Seb Coe, he can't be bad". The consequences of athletes taking drugs to win a race and the actions of those who gave them the drugs can hardly be compared to the horrors of the Balkan war. But still we need to find an understanding of, a way to cope with, the things around us that we care about and feel we are a part of, as supporters of sport in this case. As Tom Fordyce, Chief Sports Writer at the BBC, wrote today in his excellent piece about the Russian drug scandal: "For those who watch from the outside, who invest financially in tickets and television subscriptions and emotionally in the big nights and great races, there is a betrayal equally as significant."


That sentence is true for any football fan all over the world. Dick Pound, who chaired the independent commission  for the World Anti Doping Agency, unsurprisingly said that there are probably other sports and other countries that could be guilty of the "corruption and bribery practices" uncovered at the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been well documented that similar allegations have been ongoing at Fifa for a while.


But how does this staggering news have anything to do with football, Fifa and Russia 2018? The simple link is Vitaly Mutko. The more complex explanation may come to light over the next 957 days.

Vitaly Mutko is Russia's Sport Minister. Today's report says it is impossible that he did not know what was going on. "It was impossible for him not to be aware of it. And if he’s aware of it, he’s complicit in it", said Dick Pound. Mutko is also Chair of the Russia 2018 organising committee and President of the Russian Football Union. He is also a member of the Fifa Executive Committee. To say he is a variety of interests in the success of the World Cup in 2018 is an understatement. 

If Fifa's ExCo have any issues with the preparations of the World Cup, in as much as they serve Fifa's interests they would consult with the local organising committee. If there was a problem with the organisng committee the government may have to step in, with the first line of defence, so to speak, being the Sports Minister. Who's interests does Viatly Mutko primarily serve? And if any issue goes beyond the Sports Minister and a higher level of government is called upon for intervention, the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation may be consulted. And he is Igor Shuvalov, who is also First Deputy Chairman of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee Supervisory Board. It doesn't look like anybody would have to dig very deep to find evidence of political interference in the organisation of Russia 2018.

As a side note, Mutko was the Sports Minister who presided over Russia's worst ever showing at an Olympics, in Vancouver in 2010. But it wasn't just the disastrous results that irked the Russians back home. He was accused of excessive expenses while in Vancouver, including 97 breakfast vouchers and $1500 a night hotel rooms.

The Russians were again on the defence today as they were when the Fifa corruption allegations surfaced. Any mention of corruption links to the awarding of the World Cup to Russia were rebuked as a conspiracy against Russia from the jealous Western countries, led by the Americans. In reaction to today's news, Mutko said, "whatever we do, everything is bad". Russians were persecuted over doping, he said, and other officials said it was a "political hit job". It's hard to see this defensive attitude letting up anytime soon. And football and it's supporters may suffer.

Tom Fordyce points out, quite rightly however,  that football fans do have a choice: "If the voting process that awarded Fifa's World Cup to a small desert state with a questionable human rights record disturbs you, campaigners would suggest you boycott the sponsors who bankroll it."

And again from Tom Fordyce,  in a statement that applies so well to football: "Sport only survives if we all keep coming back. We come back because we believe in it. If that trust goes, everything else falls with it. It is a bottom line that brooks no argument."

"So Aidan, tell me again, who are the bad guys?" Well, have you got more than a few minutes? It's really not that difficult, but a little complicated.....