Uladzimir Niakliayeu: Global lobbying of the dictatorship
- 20.05.2012, 15:08
If journalists, managers and politicians can be bought – why not buy a sport official?
Uladzimir Niakliayeu commented on the decision of the International Federation of Ice Hockey, who took the dictator’s side, for Belorusskiy Partizan:
- I wasn’t surprised by the decision. One could tell that the championship wouldn’t be cancelled by all those statements by the influential German Ice Hockey Federation and representatives of other national federations that are linked to Lukashenka via presidential hockey matches. It could seem to be a mere entertainment for Lukashenka, but specific political goals that have been set, are reached.
Lukashenka said that he would rather not host the world championship, that he’ll be ashamed after such a poor performance of the Belarusian national team. No he wouldn’t! The world championship in Minsk enables Lukashenka to demonstrate “achievements” of the gifted leader that are absolutely unrelated to hockey.
This whole situation worries me both as a politician, sport fan and someone who used played hockey. Lukashenka designed his way to pursue hockey goals, and this way doesn’t lead to any sport achievements, it is merely a way to get closer to the president. Not only hockey players, but officials and businessmen, too, do their best to move closer and get more perks. Nobody cares what will happen to hockey. And this is why there are so many losses in the Belarusian hockey, why Lukashenka’s dearest child can’t rise to its feet.
The problem is that the model applied to the sports is completely the same as the national model established in Belarus: a fight to get closer to the president.
- President of the International Ice Hockey Foundation René Fasel put it nicely: the world championship in Minsk will be an ice-breaker. Will it?...
- If the current political situation doesn’t change, there’ll be no ice-breaking.
The world championship in ice hockey will be boycotted by a range of hockey-players and national hockey federation since the attempts to block the decision to organize the championship in Minsk failed. Being the host of the world championship will create more problems for Lukashenka than if it had been canceled. During the championship the world will see the Belarusian dictatorship, crowds of Special Forces soldiers hunting teenagers and young girls with flags, assaults against minors – and how it all is simply ignored. The problem of a dictatorship in the center of Europe, a regime of state terror against its citizens will become extremely acute when world media, hockey stars and hockey fans from civilized countries will come to Minsk.
- There are other versions of why René Fasel is so “unbendable”…
- There is information that sport officials are bought, but I can neither confirm nor deny it, I wasn’t there and saw nothing. But it is crystal clear that Lukashenka’s model is being lobbied globally, and that is why some foreign journalists, managers, politicians are being bought – which they don’t even try to hide. If journalists, managers, politicians and bought, why not buy sport officials? The tendency is obvious.