Translation and subtitles by Scott Humor
Edited by Leo
I have read many articles, social media posts, and readers’ comments searching for answers to the question: “Why do we have to do this World Cup?
This, pardon my French, Mundial?”
Let’s talk about this.
I want to discuss this issue in a context of which little is being said.
To begin with, I disagree with those who claim that in order to host this World Football Cup Russia has sacrificed some geopolitical interests.
They say that if it wasn’t for the World Cup, we would have taken Kiev back long time ago.
This is an utter nonsense, which we will see after the championship is over.
But, that’s not all.
Specifically for our neighbors on the globe, and for the most gifted representatives of the Kiev regime, the question about possibility for Kiev military offense against Donbass during the World Cup in Russia was asked at the presidential annual direct line.
President Putin has spoken quite clearly about this issue.
Even the dumbest Ukrainian politicians are likely to understand that any attempt to carry out an offensive would end up in Ukraine’s loss of statehood.
The championship notwithstanding, Russia’s geopolitical interests have not been canceled.
When calculating financial costs of the championship, some people say that $13.2 billion is too much.
It seems to me that many people forget that the money was spent not only on the stadiums, but also on improvement of infrastructure that is being used every day by residents of the cities hosting the championship.
I remember how many people complained during the Sochi Olympics that all investments and improvements were made in just one region, which was already lucky, because it has a wonderful climate by Russian standards.
Well, this time around the investments have been more or less evenly distributed in many cities.
Well, we can’t do it any other way.
In modern Russia, as well as in many other countries, it is necessary to have such a mega-project in order to successfully implement and monitor large infrastructure investments that the economy as a whole needs.
This story is not only about sports and sporting events, but also about all sorts of summits, such as APEC or BRICS summit, which literally transformed some Russian cities.
This is not a purely Russian method, because in many countries, even in China, the same method is being used.
Suffice it to recall the Beijing Olympics or so-called “Asian Davos” in which the Chinese have poured a lot of money.
And now the most important point, which we shouldn’t underestimate.
Most of the 2.5 million tickets sold for this World Cup matches were sold to foreigners.
For each country participating in the championship, from Saudi Arabia to Germany, from Peru to Australia, there are at least tens of thousands of fans-tourists.
And these fans are now massively hanging out in Russian cities, communicating with the ordinary Russians, getting blown away in delight visiting the Moscow metro, learning about existence of beautiful Russian cities, and writing about them enthusiastically for the media.
Most importantly, visiting foreigners see Russia not through the prism of lies and falsehoods from CNN or BBC, but they see the real Russia and not only they see it, they communicate with it, they are rooting for it and they are falling in love with it.
It’s impossible not to fall in love with Russia!
And these thousands and thousands of fans are now pouring into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram millions of photos, videos and stories about this unknown Russia.
Russia populated, as it turns out, by very friendly people.
Russia with no bears on the streets, but with mobile Internet being cooler than in Germany, and with metro in Moscow being better than in New York.
All this shatters the old perceptions about Russia.
Some negative incidents that the media is trying to inflate as much as possible, just drown in the tsunami of delight and surprise that is now sweeping the world of information and social networks.
Even journalists who do not like Russia are forced to admit that Russia is surprising.
Russia is shocking in a good way.
Russia is showing its youth and aspiration for the future.
Believe me, we would not be able to buy such great PR for any money.
And, we would not be able to buy so many sincere reviews about us.
This is significant.
This is important, because in recent years they have been actively trying to dehumanize us in the eyes of the world, and this dehumanization is a necessary step they take before they start to shed someone else’s blood.
Now all across the world, from Canada to Australia, we have thousands, tens and even hundreds of thousands of voluntary PR people who will tell their friends, relatives, and acquaintances that Russia is different from what they are being shown on TV.
No wonder our geopolitical enemies tried so hard at any cost to disrupt the World Cup and to boycott it.
They understand everything and will do anything to make sure that our celebration is spoiled.
I want to believe that they will not succeed, and that we will get all the possible benefits from the World Cup, and our children will remember it with the same warmth with which we once remembered the Moscow Olympics in 1980.
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Yes, exactly….
unfortunately, in the case of Brazil in 2014, our geopolitical enemies had succeed in ruin the benefits of the World Cup to Brazil, that has turned as a tragedy for the country…
I’m really happy to see how Russia is dealing with this event, I’m happy with the results of Russia’s team, with the happiness of russian people… they deserve it!
Go Russia!!!
He gives an example of 1980 Moscow Olympics. Also, very close to a collapse. The explosives for the controlled demo were being put into place in the early 80s; the precious Olympics may have helped.
Commentator also mentions how much Russians like “mobile internet, more than Germans even.” Is this a good thing? Russians walking around with their faces in their phones? Is it that important to mimic what he thinks is Western? Give me the domesticated bears, thank you.
It’s good Russia is hosting the soccer games, but chill out about it. Appreciate what’s been given up to host this thing. Use it as a tool. But remember, to get your punches in, you have to take them in return. Make sure you’re not taking the big ones. English everywhere, cell phone robot people, scantly clad “less responsible citizens,” american brands slapped all over the place, and possibly the infrastructure for color revolutions were all imported. Russian players couldn’t even put their names in Cyrillic on their uniforms! Mind what’s been lost.
And, yeah, chill out. Beating Egypt in a soccer game isn’t the same and getting NATO off your nuts. Now that’b be something to celebrate.
Yes it’s a good thing.
Mobile internet in Russia is several times cheaper than in western Europe and is often faster.
The first time I visited Russia, I was worried about bad connectivity but in fact, it was better than at home.
Besides, you should remember that your own comment was entered on a web site.
To be fair, I think the latin alphabet on football uniforms is a FIFA thing, it applies to Japan, S. Korea, Iran, Egypt, etc. also. FIFA is I assume warped/compromised in all the usual kinds of ways, but Russia is doing a magnificent job hosting FIFA. (anyone who knows more please educate!)
p/s as far as that now-famous scantily clad creature on RT, I think 99.99999% of WC fans would make note of the fact that she’s a knockout, rather than bother reading about her morality or line of work. As you said, these are PR wars after all, so, score another point for RF.
Dave:
Mobile internet was a reference to cell phone use, from what I gathered. If I wanted to comment on the internet in general, I would. Arguing that I made a comment on the internet proves it’s good is not tenable anyway. I drove on a freeway. Freeways are still bad, and still need to be replaced by rail lines. Clearly the internet is an office tool. It’s an electronic bulletin board. When you start thinking it’s your friend, when your cell phone is an artificial limb, you’re a tool. Bad thing.
Exile:
You’re correct. Everyone has to do it in latin. Most adds are in English. Many scenes of Moscow: English everywhere. Fifa is only part of the problem.
As far as the whore goes, I can say for a fact, the first thing the CIA did in the 90s to dismantle Russia’s moral foundations was to mass produce porn. Actually, suggested searches for Russia usually include “Russian slut doing . . . this or that.” Making wives, mothers, and sisters into prostitutes, antagonizing the appetites, is what the bad guys do. It’s what RT does.
In the decadent west, RT and FIFA’s content (all of it… it’s not only Russian girls being hyped this year, also attractive visitors from everywhere, not scantily-clad) seems quaint and home-spun and charming in comparison.
Compared to the full court press of LGBTQAI-books-for-children-3-and-up which are hyped covertly and overtly every single day, this RT “cheescake” seems positively old fashioned, very 50’s and 60’s. Still a bit decadent.. but imagine how much worse the NYT or Daily Mail would be…
What I’m saying is, we’re so twisted over here (US) that what’s over there looks wholesome and good, even if it’s a FIFA cup with drunk punters and scantily clad football fan with loose morals.
The media shoe, for Russia, is on the other foot. They’re showing us something not the other way around.
If RT is a “propaganda effort” to achieve “regime change” in the minds of ordinary people in the West, and if that means making Russia look good, in that regard their WC coverage has been a wildly huge success.
Thanks so much for your post, in the end of course you’re right.
Completely agree with Ostashko here. I read somewhere in the last week that 70000 American football fans will be in Russia for the World Cup and this despite the usa didn’t even qualify to play. And that football gets minor coverage in the exceptionalist zionazi-gay owned/run pindo media to begin with.
“Oh, in closing our news broadcast tonight, it has come to our attention there is a soccer championship happening in antisemitic dictator Putin’s Russia. Being only a minor sport, which incidentally stole the name of one of our american sports giants, football, to gain world recognition, the soccer championship will likely see reduced interest in Putin’s Russia with all the corruption and crime of this dictatorship extracting their toll…we wish our free world allies all the best as they bravely buck the odds and show the oppressed Russians what sportsmanship is all about.”
Yes, yes, yes! Even the pedo-paper The Guardian can’t help but mention favorably Russia and the level at which these games are managed. Top notch! Money well spent.
He’s spot on.
Russia could not get this kind of PR and lasting affection from so many people from so many places for billions of dollars in advertising and marketing.
It’s a great investment of tax dollars and national revenues.
Sochi was put on the map and its kept there.
Now these other big cities will be fondly remembered, touted and returned to over the years.
Tourism out of Russia is a huge drain on wealth, if there is not tourism into Russia. So this World Cup announces that all of Russia is built and ready for modern millions of tourists.
New revenues for businesses and citizens will result. And fees and taxes paid by tourists not Russians will add to the state treasury.
The intangible will be that millions of people for decades will have fallen in love with Russia and Russians.
Putin knows what he’s doing.
And the Russian Team is playing wonderfully, with skill, character and style. A huge bonus for the nation.
“Even journalists who do not like Russia are forced to admit that Russia is surprising” I do no see Swedish TV, its terrible anti-Russian, but even they have (to their own “surprise, sorrow”) have to admit that Russia, is a nice country and Russians nice people. I have to acknowledge that I was negative too in the beginning to this event but now I have to agree to this whole post. Nice job Russia!
This, pardon my French, Mundial?”
– It’s ‘Mondiale’
@ paul: yes, I prefer domesticated bears, too
Inasmuch as I like ‘zbornaya komanda’, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are not relevant opponents. Tough matches are yet to come.
On a sporting side RF won brilliantly her first two games and is defacto almost qualified for 1/8th of final (in terms of objectives i Guess it is already mission accomplished), Poland lost to Senegal scoring against themselves, US & UKIES not participating… most bog EU teams doing bad in their first games.
I do not follow football games, but journos from France Info were hinting that RF sucked in football and that they woud loose to Egypt yesterday :)
This morning they were swollowing their dentures and almost ignoring the news :)
PS: can’t help but think that the competition will NOT go without a fabricated incident either related to the world cup or in parallel like in Donbass or elsewhere. Too many non favourable incidents of late for them to let it go without striking back:
-Salvini and the migrants + floating the possibility to use up to 10 military ships off the Lybian coasts
-Horst Seehofer challenging Merkel on migrants with an ultimatum
-RF dumping US govies on the market as if coordinated with China’s tit for tat tarrifs spite with Murica
-VVP sending a sicilian style threat message to the junta against an attack on Donbass
-RF sending some more warships with Calibr missiles for escalation in Syria
-Russia world cup going well (so far) as an event and for the Russian team
-Many points which i may forget + the internal Murican negative news (like the refugges sacandal in Texas) to be forgotten real quick
The West tried to vilify Putin during the Sochi Winter Olympics, presenting him as a “mad” Roman Emperor who spent an estimated 50 billion dollars to gratify his “imperial” ambitions. It forgot to mention that the money was spent on infrastructure. The same thing happened during the World Cup. Russia was again being vilified, with the result that fewer football fans came than would have come under normal circumstances. Even so, they did come.
Both the Sochi Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup were and are a great success for Russia, which gained tremendously on the PR front. I have been surfing the Internet and watching the comments of football fans who are in Russia. They are delighted by what they have seen. Comments by readers have been very positive. This will certainly destroy the negative propaganda of the Western media. After this nothing will be the same.
For years I have been watching Russia, it’s rise on the one hand and the attitude of the West towards it. Yes, the Western elites are none too happy about Russia’s rise. The elites in Europe are slowly accepting reality, which cannot be said for the ones in the US. However, ordinary people in the West are certainly beginning to accept Russia, becoming interested in the country. For example, they are showing astonishment that a wonderful city like St.Petersburg even exists, of which they knew little if anything at all.
Russia is currently a world factor. In the years to come it will certainly become an even greater world factor. As Western analysts have admitted, the East is the future. Both Russia and China played it smart by introducing the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk road.
The USA and its puppet glove – which is called Ukraine – DARE NOT, ruin the World Cup. Given the importance of and devotion to the beautiful game around the world this would boomerang very badly on the above two nations – two nations who didn’t even qualify. How dare they spoil the world’s four yearly homage to the global new religion – football (soccer to our American exceptional people).
I would like to see Putin kick Burger King out of the country. Talk about disrespect and trying to ruin the image of the country. These American chains should not have been allow to set up in the first place. Not needed.
+100. Russia has the its own, most fantastic “fast food” in the world. There is absolutely no need for the synthetic poison coming from companies that hates Russia. Poison is poison and should be treated as such.
Poison + Sports = Doping
I wouldn’t put it past the Western presstitutes, if the Russian team turns out to be really successful in the FIFA World Cup, to start their foaming, moaning, and groaning again about ”Novichok” — this time around as a very potent vitality booster; far, far away from the alleged killing substance last time around. The culprit, of course, remains the same: VVP.