CNN: Vladimir Putin: The world of sport has shunned the Russian president. So what?

Press/Media: Expert comment

Period	10 Mar 2022

Media contributions

Title	Vladimir Putin: The world of sport has shunned the Russian president. So what?
Media name/outlet	CNN
Country/Territory	United States
Date	10/03/22
Description	Vera Tolz, professor of Russian studies at the University of Manchester, told CNN Sport that Putin has used Russian nationalism "instrumentally and very systematically" as a way of legitimizing his regime since he came to power. "Nationalism -- and the kind of national unification with promoting particular versions of history, of organizing, establishing new national holidays, and of course, sport -- has been absolutely key to his legitimation strategy," she explained, adding such tactics date back to the Soviet period, where sport was used "very intensively as a tool of building loyalty of the people to the regime." "Even the fact that the Kremlin, Russia, has gone to such lengths, in using doping, in order to win more medals, in a way shows how participating in competitions and winning, winning was key to Putin's Popular Mobilization strategy," Tolz added.
URL	https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/10/sport/ukraine-russia-putin-sports-sanctions-intl-spt/index.html
Persons	Vera Tolz-Zilitinkevic