The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the Preservation of Authoritarian Regime Politics

Traditionally, mega sports events have been regarded as a potential threat for dictatorships in showing alternative life styles and allowing "Western" values and activists to enter otherwise closed political spaces. More recently, however, evidence seems to point into another direction. The Olympics in Beijing in 2008 are an important landmark in the process of suppressing Chinese civil society, and the Winter Olympics in Sotchi in 2014 can be linked to heavy corruption in Russia. Furthermore, Sotchi was used to legitimize the aggressive foreign policy of Russia against young democracies in the so-called Near Abroad. Can sports events then be used to strengthen authoritarian regimes? Are they tools for the intimidation of opposition forces, for the successful cooptation of non-political elites and for the legitimization of otherwise pale political leaders? These questions will be tackled with a focus on the World Cup 2018 in Russia. The findings are based on qualitative research which is towed together in a book on the relationship between football and political power that will appear in Germany in early 2018.