You can imagine it like this: A toddler is crouching on the floor with a large, colorful lollipop in one hand and a flamethrower in the other hand. Every burst of fire is followed by a chuckle, fascinated by how beautifully it hisses and hisses. In order to prevent the worst, that the little one burns down the whole house, the adults rush in – and take the lollipop away from the child.
Grotesque? For sure. But not as surreal as the idea of the child with the flamethrower in his hand. You just have to give the child the name Vladimir. The lollipop is hockey.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, 69, and his ally, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, 67, are the top hockey fans in their hockey-mad states. Whenever they confer, they arrange to play a little game, as if they were two completely normal working honest men who shake out their bones, tired from their board work, at the old gentlemen’s in the evening.
The 2022 World Cup is over. It is still open whether the 2023 tournament can take place in Saint Petersburg
The images always look the same: when the president is on the puck, the opponents step discreetly aside. The last opportunity arose in December, Putin met seven times and, oh yes, joint military maneuvers are planned for the new year. Then last week, Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine. They had also formed up for the attack in Belarusian deployment areas.
Now the ice hockey world has decided not to step aside and look the other way: All Russian and Belarusian teams are excluded from international competitions “until further notice”, according to the world association IIHF. At the World Cup in Finland in May, the door is closed for the record champion, whether the 2023 World Cup can take place at home in Saint Petersburg is an open question. The Latvian team from Riga announced its withdrawal from the Russian-managed professional league KHL, the German second division club Frankfurt – torn between promotion ambitions and moral integrity – announced their sponsorship by the Russian state bank VTB.
Symbolism, sure. Sports federations will not persuade Putin to turn back. But anyone who throws fire at neighbors for no reason shouldn’t be allowed to lick lollipops. The hope is that every pinprick, no matter how small, can help puncture the fuel hose that little Volodya is using to set the European home on fire.
