Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup is a total joke that isn't funny

Vladimir Putin's 2014 Olympics in Russia were a farce. Political activists and gay and lesbian athletes were openly repressed during the Winter Games in Sochi. The event's massively inflated budget brought to life insider excess and croneyism. 

Coupled with the geopolitical shenanigans of Putin's Kremlin, it was all enough for me to ask if Russia even deserves to host the 2018 World Cup as planned. 

But that was two years ago. Those were simpler times. 

Since then, a widespread doping scandal featuring a "deeply rooted culture of cheating at all levels" has been uncovered in Russian athletics. Meanwhile, Russian thug-fans are currently terrorizing the Euro 2016 soccer tournament in France with violence and mayhem -- behavior that experts link to the Kremlin's foreign policy. 

It all paints a picture that's crystal clear: The 2018 World Cup in Russia is a complete joke, a dangerous premise and a potential disaster in the making. 

UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, on Tuesday fined the Russian federation more than $150,000. UEFA also formally put the Russian team on the brink of being disqualified from the Euro 2016 continental soccer championship currently taking place in France. The reason? Repeated instances of in-stadium violence perpetrated by Russian fans. 

But this wasn't just a case of drunk fans lobbing wild haymakers. The reported violence from Russian fans in France features mysterious, sinister elements. The worst of it surrounded Russia's match against England in Marseilles on Saturday.

From The New York Times: "Just after the final whistle, video footage showed a mass of Russian fans — many of them wearing gloves more common in mixed martial arts fighting and with shirts or scarves covering their faces — streaming into a nearby section full of England fans and attacking them."

Mysterious but apparently well-trained fighters stoking violence on Russia's behalf in a foreign land? Sounds a bit like Crimea two years ago. 

But drawing a connection between Russian fan violence and Russian foreign policy would be nuts, right? 

Wrong. Quite wrong, actually. 

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"Russian hooligans see themselves as Kremlin foot soldiers," reads the Reuters headline this week. 

Putin has famously staked his presidency on a storyline of noble Russia taking on the oppressive West. Many see elements of this playing out on the ground in France. 

"Our fans in Marseille are a copy of Russian foreign policy," Reuters quotes Sergei Medvedev, a professor at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, as saying on social media. "We won't win the championship but let's at least put on a brave face, beat some people up, and have the whole world talking about us."

Igor Lebedev, a nationalist politician, actually used social media to praise Russian fans who fought at the England match Saturday: "I don't see anything terrible about fans fighting. On the contrary, our guys were great. Keep it up!"

Now remember, world: These are your hosts for the 2018 World Cup.

Then there's the matter of Alexander Shprygin. 

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Shprygin is a far-right politician who was once photographed giving the Nazi salute. More recently, he said he hopes to “see only Slavic faces in the Russian national team” at the 2018 World Cup. 

So why are we highlighting a seemingly fringe politician here? He's apparently a member of Russia's official traveling party at Euro 2016, which has raised eyebrows and concerns. 

Piara Powar is the executive director of an organization that monitors fan behavior at international soccer matches. She told The Guardian that Shprygin is a leader among Russia's hardcore soccer fan groups, many of which also share far-right political views. His inclusion in the official delegation, she said, is a red flag regarding “the apparent nexus of high-level politicians, far-right leaders and extreme nationalism” in Russian soccer. 

Nationalism is a defining principle of Putin's foreign policy, illustrated well by Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. After the 2014 World Cup in Brazil -- at which point the countdown to Russia 2018 began -- the annexation was still a headlining global news story. It also underscored the connection between sports and politics, particularly in Putin's Russia. 

"If he carries on with this belligerent behavior ... it's unthinkable that he should have the privilege of hosting the World Cup in 2018," Nick Clegg, Britain's deputy prime minister at the time, said in July 2014. "You can't have the beautiful game marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on the Russian-Ukrainian border."

Putin took what he wanted, though, and the 2018 World Cup is still slated for Russia. In other words: Nothing happened. 

But the next part of what Clegg said two years ago still carries weight. 

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"There's no question he sees it for himself and for his prestige as a huge gain," Clegg said of Putin staging global mega-events. "The idea that the world should accord Russia that prestige is beyond belief. I don't know how many people have got to be shot out of the skies before people say enough is enough."

Clegg was referencing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the passenger jet shot down over Crimea by pro-Russian rebels in July 2014. Russia has since been sanctioned by the U.S. and Europe for that incident, which provides some geopolitical context for the current fan violence in France. It also validates Clegg's point. 

Hosting the 2018 World Cup in Russia sends a clear message. Putin can engage in brinksmanship and antagonism that costs human lives, but he still gets to participate in -- and profit from -- the world's most glorious sporting events. 

And lest you raise your voice in protest, the old trope of separating sports and politics holds no weight here. 

Not after the doping scandal uncovered last November, which shows a sense of lawlessness and corruption familiar to anyone who follows Putin's political maneuvers. Not after the fan violence in France this week. Not after the revelation that a far-right extremist is apparently a member of the Russian soccer federation's official Euro 2016 traveling party.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been rightly pilloried for its shady bidding process and human rights violations. But well before that is the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 

This week's events in France have shown it yet again to be a disgrace -- and a potential disaster -- in the making. 

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