Judo - Putin's soft power

Not only is judo a favorite sport, it is also used as a favorite domestic and foreign policy tool of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on the judo ring. Photo: Sputnik.

Despite the recent doping scandals of the Russian athletics team, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 27 issued a final decision allowing 271 out of 387 expected athletes from this country to compete in the biggest sports arena on the planet in the past 4 years - the 2016 Olympics.

The incident shows the strong influence of President Putin in powerful international sports institutions, and Russia under his leadership has turned sports into a central factor in foreign policy and building the country's image on the international stage, according to Liberation.

Commentator Guillaume Gendron commented that since coming to power, Mr. Putin has always considered sports that demonstrate male strength such as ice hockey and martial arts.as one of the main pillars of his propaganda policy. Among them, judo occupies a special place. Because this is the sport of the Kremlin boss's childhood, allowing him to defend himself in street fights and is a sport encouraged by the Soviet state security committee KGB.

In addition to physical training, judo is also an effective means of demonstrating soft power for the head of the Russian government. There is no sport thatPutin has put so many political and propaganda goals into it. Today, this martial sport still occupies an important place in post-Soviet countries, and countries that were once allies of the Soviet Union such as Cuba and China.

Journalist Steven Lee Myers, former New York Times Moscow correspondent, assessed that judo's presence in Russian political life is so strong that it can form a "judo class" social order among the oligarchs, with significant influence in government operations.

This order originated in Mr Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg, and has most recently been evident in the activities of the Yawara-Neva judo club, founded in 1998 by a childhood friend of the Russian president.ArkadyRotenberg.

Rotenberg capitalA judo master and obscure businessman under former President Boris Yeltsine, Rotenberg has become one of Russia’s most powerful tycoons, heading the board of contractors for Gazprom. Forbes estimated Rotenberg’s fortune at $1.26 billion in 2016.

Rotenberg and his brother Boris (a former Soviet judo champion) were awarded 15% of the contract for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, worth more than $6.6 billion.

Another co-founder of the Yawara-Neva club was politician Shestakov. In 1999, when Putin was appointed Prime Minister, Shestakov unexpectedly left his job as a judo coach in Saint Petersburg and threw himself into politics, helping to found the Unity Party, which later merged with two other parties to form United Russia. Shestakov is now one of the key members of the Fair Russia Party.

Foreign affairs tools

Mr. Putin took a photo with the Russian judo athlete who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Photo: Reuters.

According to Gendron, judo not only demonstrates soft power within Russia, but also helps the Kremlin leader enhance his prestige in foreign affairs activities on the international arena.

In 2008, Mr. Putin was invited by the International Judo Federation (IJF) to be its honorary president, becoming the first head of state to hold the position of honorary president of this organization.

In 2012, he was awarded the title of "eighth-degree black belt judo" by the IJF, a rank that not just any professional martial artist can achieve.In a public statement to the press, Mr. Marius Vizer, president of the IJF, affirmed: "As honorary president of the IJF, a judo master and head of state of a prominent country, Vladimir Putin is the perfect ambassador for the sport of judo."

During his first visit to the UK in 2012, the Russian President skipped other competitions and spent the entire day watching a judo match between a Russian and a Mongolian boxer at the London 2012 Olympics, and expressed his excitement when his "home team" won and won the gold medal. After the visit, many British people mentioned Mr. Putin as a politician who loves sports and has a respectable martial spirit.

In the context, Russian judo athletes are at risk of being banned from competing at the 2016 Olympics, July 22IJF President Marius Vizer, also a fellow student of Putin, has criticized the call.banned Russian athletes from competing, saying "friendship needs to replace Cold War hatred".

Mr. Vizer emphasized that Russia is a judo powerhouse and plays a big role in the history of world sports.Banning Russian athletes from the Olympics would make the competitions less attractive.

In addition, IOC President Thomas Bach's support for the Russian athletes at this Olympics is said to stem from his close relationship withEuropean Judo Federation President Sergey Soloveychik, another close friend of Mr Putin.

"The tension between Russia and the IOC reached its peak when the committee decided to ban all Russian athletes from participating in this year's Olympics. However, there was a dramatic change at the last minute. The incident clearly shows that Moscow under Mr. Putin is regaining its influence on this international sports institution, as well as on the world political stage in general,"Gendron commented.

According to VNE