Russian president Vladimir Putin has long preached the saying that “politics and sports don’t mix,” but a recent arrest in Poland on Friday served as another reminder why that phrase so often rings hollow.
A Russian hockey player for a first division Polish team (identifying details were withheld) was detained on spying charges, one of 14 people arrested from one espionage network. The hockey player arrived in October of 2021 and allegedly received payment from Russia for identifying critical infrastructure, among other tasks. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
Poland, which helps funnel western military supplies to Ukraine, has accused Moscow of attempting to destabilize the country by sending spies.
Rosyjscy szpiedzy wpadają jeden po drugim! Kolejny sukces śledczych @PK_GOV_PL i ABW. Schwytano szpiega, który działał pod płaszczykiem sportowca. Rosjanin był zawodnikiem 1-ligowego klubu. To już 14 zatrzymany członek rozpracowanej przez nas siatki szpiegowskiej. Dziękuję…
— Zbigniew Ziobro | SP (@ZiobroPL) June 30, 2023
In March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition as neutrals so long as they do not work for the military or “actively support the war” in Ukraine. The IOC received pushback from 35 countries calling for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be banned from the Paris 2024 Olympics next summer, but the Thomas Bach & Co. have shown no signs of budging.
Some nations have taken matters into their own hands to protest the IOC’s self-declared “middle ground.” Ukraine is boycotting any Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying event where Russians are competing, leaving Ukrainian athletes in a difficult position. Poland recently threatened to deny visas to Russian and Belarusian athletes for the European Individual Fencing Championships that had to be held in Bulgaria instead as a result of the protest.
“The Polish government interfered in the autonomy of sport,” Bach said at the annual IOC session last week, claiming it “goes against what we want and what we fight for.
“If these divisive political forces succeed in their efforts to decide which athlete can compete in which competition, then we will end up with sports competition only among athletes from like-minded political blocs.”
As of March, at least 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches had been killed by Russia since its invasion last year. The Central Sports Club of the Army (CSKA), training more than 10,000 athletes with hundreds of coaches, produced 45 out of the 71 Russian medals at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
Last March, several Russian Olympic medalists were involved in a large pro-war rally with Putin, where two-time gold medalist Evgeny Rylov appeared on stage and consequently was hit with a nine-month suspension by World Aquatics. Putin called the punishment “absurd” and added that Russian and Belarusian athletes are facing discrimination based on their nationality.
Rylov, a staff sergeant in the Moscow Oblast Police in Lobnya, also proceeded to lose his sponsorship deal with Speedo. His suspension came to an end in January, but World Aquatics will not announce an update on the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ eligibility until July.
Good, arrest them all
Rylov’s side hustle