ABSTRACT
Since Vladimir Putin became the President in 1999, Russia has invested significantly in elite sport exemplified by hosting the 2013 Universiade in Kazan, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in cities throughout the country. The symbolic politics of sport mega-events, however, have not only a promotional but also a protest form, since it gives ‘the opportunity for non-state actors and social movements to protest a perceived social injustice by “seizing the platform” watched by hundreds of millions of people and reported on by most of the world’s media’. Human rights discourse remains prominent in contemporary mega-events in different parts of the world. Although the very moment when four activists run onto the pitch and stewards chased after them was broadcast, the cameras very quickly switched to other objects. On the day of the match, the activists put the police uniforms into their backpacks and went to Luzhniki Stadium.
