ABSTRACT
This chapter is focused on the role of sport as an instrument in current Russian politics and policymaking. In the last decade sport has become an integral part of the domestic political agenda and is closely linked to the issues of state and nation building, internal and foreign policy and the promotion of patriotism. Mass surveys observe an uneven rise of sport as a social and political phenomenon in people’s imagination and the hosting of sport-mega-events is often believed to be a critical national issue. This chapter examines the evolution in governmental support for sport in Russia. Most of the existing academic literature on sport and politics on Russia either see sport as tool for boosting loyalty to the current political regime or as a part of present-day Russian soft power strategy thus limiting their focus with the ‘current moment’. The main argument of the chapter is that sport in Russian political life is linked to more fundamental issues of Russian power and society centring around the coexistence of the strong state and weak nation. Mega-events are a state-driven platform for promoting ‘all-Russian’ national identity and showing strength and power of Russian people as a unified nation.
