Russia and the World Cup

[paborn]

Going back to the OP's line of thought... It's actually pretty easy for an authoritarian police state to organise a sports tournament, forcibly prevent - or hide - any forms of dissent or trouble and present a very positive face to the world that convinces many. That, after all, is what happened in the case of the 1936 Berlin Olympics where Germany was prettified for the foreign visitors and any open persecution of Jews was temporarily put on hold.

Let's not forget, either, Russia's long tradition of Potemkin Villages - structures put temporarily in place to create misleadingly favourable impressions. Originally designed to fool Catherine the Great, they later served to fool the "useful idiots" from the West who visited Russia in the 1920s and 1930s and praised the things that they were allowed to see.

Yes, everyone seems to have had a good time at the World Cup - but let's not forget the underlying nature of the Russian state.

Just one litle, tiny quibble: an authoritarian state has nothing to do with the incredible quality of the game playing.....