Russian participation in sport

[Pickled Onion]

Thanks to the above I have learned something today: I had assumed that "Oligarch" was derived from olio = oil but it is from oligoi = the few.

It's worth remembering that for Russians the emergence of the oligarchy was a consequence of the transition to "democracy", and hence why so many Russians today distrust democracy and support Putin.

[Peter]

Who is in fact one of the biggest oligarchs of the lot.

[Wowbagger]

Rule by the few. Greek Oligoi - few. Arkhein - to rule.

[fd3]

The report I saw earlier on the BBC text news said something about the situation in the atheletes' village becoming "untenable". It didn't go into why that was, but to me - and it's confirmed by the news article online - that very much read like assorted countries were telling the IPC that they would pull out if the Russians and Belarusians were allowed to compete.

And the cynic in me thinks there's an element of "That'll improve our medal chances" to those protests.

I'm not saying that's impossible, but I could see that for starters all the Ukranian athletes would refuse to play against (Bella)Russians; once that becomes a thing all the other athletes have to be jerks or take the same stance. 

(click to show/hide)

Probably massively reduce the number of drug cheats while they're at it.

[Mr Larrington]

My pal Fast Freddy was selected for the USAnian track cycling team for the 1980 Olympics, having been first reserve for Montréal.  Then the Sovs invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter told Freddy he couldn’t play and Freddy turned into a lifelong Republican overnight.  Be careful what you wish for

[De Sisti]

Chelsea fans and their adoration of Abramovich.

[Peter]

My pal Fast Freddy was selected for the USAnian track cycling team for the 1980 Olympics, having been first reserve for Montréal.  Then the Sovs invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter told Freddy he couldn’t play and Freddy turned into a lifelong Republican overnight.  Be careful what you wish for

I think the Russians are already republicans, aren't they?

[fd3]

^^ Fair play on the coach calling them on it.  As he said, it's legit for the fans to thank Abramovitch for transforming their club, but there is a time and a place to voice that opinion; and a time and a place to stfu.

[fd3]

My pal Fast Freddy was selected for the USAnian track cycling team for the 1980 Olympics, having been first reserve for Montréal.  Then the Sovs invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter told Freddy he couldn’t play and Freddy turned into a lifelong Republican overnight.  Be careful what you wish for

Fast Freddy appears to have a brace of poor moral decisions there, did he go for the hat-trick?

[Mr Larrington]

He was the first HPV-ist to exceed 50 and 65 mph.  Whether that counts as a plus or a minus…

[hubner]

My pal Fast Freddy was selected for the USAnian track cycling team for the 1980 Olympics, having been first reserve for Montréal.  Then the Sovs invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter told Freddy he couldn’t play and Freddy turned into a lifelong Republican overnight.  Be careful what you wish for

Fast Freddy appears to have a brace of poor moral decisions there, did he go for the hat-trick?

And there are World Championships every year, which are more prestigous in the cycling world than the Olympics.

[Mr Larrington]

My pal Fast Freddy was selected for the USAnian track cycling team for the 1980 Olympics, having been first reserve for Montréal.  Then the Sovs invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter told Freddy he couldn’t play and Freddy turned into a lifelong Republican overnight.  Be careful what you wish for

Fast Freddy appears to have a brace of poor moral decisions there, did he go for the hat-trick?

And there are World Championships every year, which are more prestigous in the cycling world than the Olympics.

Those were still the days of the “amateur” in the Olympics though, so probably more prestigious then than they are now.

[spesh]

I'm surprised that this one hasn't been picked up already given that YACF is supposed to be a cycling forum, but Ineos Grenadiers rider Pavel Sivakov has changed his nationality from Russian to French.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/60614983

[fd3]

Interesting, a case of someone with a Russian name and Passport who's never really been Russian making it official, as opposed to someone trying to circumvent the legalities of competing in sport after a Russian ban. 
Not as big a deal as Russians can cycle in UCI events (IIUC) just not represent Russia.

[Mr Larrington]

I thought pore crash-damaged P Sivakov was already French, just with Russian parents

[fd3]

You weren't wrong, just ahead of the times.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Chelsea v Lille tomorrow. I wonder if the French fans are going to be flying Ukrainian flags.

[De Sisti]

Chelsea v Lille tomorrow. I wonder if the French fans are going to be flying Ukrainian flags.

Chelsea fans will be flying Russian flags.

[spesh]

Chelsea v Lille tomorrow. I wonder if the French fans are going to be flying Ukrainian flags.

Chelsea fans will be flying Russian flags.

Don't know about flags, but it would appear that some Chelski fans have lived down to expectations. 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/chelsea-fc-fans-chanting-roman-abramovich-clash-with-riot-police-in-lille-ahead-of-champions-league-game/ar-AAV9zdh?li=BBoPRmx&ocid=mailsignout

[DuncanM]

Reading that, I can't see a massive difference. Corrupt people becoming fabulously wealthy through siphoning public money into private hands. Is Abramovich more corrupt than the Glazers? I don't recall the precise details, but when they "bought" Manchester United they somehow succeeded in transferring the debt they incurred in the deal onto the club itself, which, as I understood it at the time, meant that they had a free football club and quite a lot of millions in their bank account, and, in the event of the football club going under (that didnt seem likely since it was Manchester United) they Glazers personally wouldn't have been liable for the debt. (I'm happy to be corrected on these points. I haven't bothered to go back and check, but that is what I remember from however long ago it was).

The technical term for what the Glazers did is a "leveraged buyout". The current owners of Burnley did it last summer too. It's an unpleasant, but relatively standard piece of business practise where if you can raise enough (borrowed) cash to buy a company (remember Manchester Utd at the time were a plc), then you can make the profits from that company pay your interest. (If you are super fancy then you can sell bonds backed by future cashflows from that company and then you get a risk free percentage where if it all blows up the bond holders take the fall - the Glazers didn't do this.) Utd have been a cash generating machine for the last 25 years - if the Glazers hadn't got their hands on them then they would have had another billion pounds to throw at useless players.

Many of the oligarchs were able to take ownership of previously state-owned businesses for significantly below their true value because of their political and/or mafiosi connections where rivals mysteriously disappeared or were declared to be unsuitable buyers and their (higher) offers were thrown out. One allegation about Abramovic was that the workers organisation he ended up owning were given the shares in their business, and he managed to get the bosses to refuse to pay their wages until they had sold their shares to him at whatever price he was offering.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Many of the oligarchs were able to take ownership of previously state-owned businesses for significantly below their true value because of their political and/or mafiosi connections where rivals mysteriously disappeared or were declared to be unsuitable buyers and their (higher) offers were thrown out.

That's a good definition of (at least part of) the difference between an oligarch and a "run of the mill" billionaire.

[hubner]

I think it's about time to get rid of nationalism in sport.

Individuals should represent themselves. For team sports, it's a bit more complicated, alternatives include works teams, towns, organisations such as charities.


So no more flag waving or national anthems or medal tables.

[fd3]

Would work fine in cycling, but not sure about brands of football and the olympics.  If anything the only reason people watch the olympics is the nationalism.

[De Sisti]

I think it's about time to get rid of nationalism in sport.
Individuals should represent themselves. For team sports, it's a bit more complicated, alternatives include works teams, towns, organisations such as charities.
So no more flag waving or national anthems or medal tables.

How would the individuals fund themselves?

[Mr Larrington]

I think it's about time to get rid of nationalism in sport.
Individuals should represent themselves. For team sports, it's a bit more complicated, alternatives include works teams, towns, organisations such as charities.
So no more flag waving or national anthems or medal tables.

How would the individuals fund themselves?

By getting real jobs, like in the Olden Days