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In an effort to lend legitimacy to the much-criticized Chechen regime of President Ramzan Kadyrov,
local oligarchs have generated the money necessary to hire top-name soccer players. The same has
happened in Dagestan, which recently spent more than $40 million to get Cameroon striker Samuel
Eto’o. But these chess moves have a specific purpose, both for local leadership and the Kremlin: To
make the troubled Caucuses look like a safe and
entertaining region in the run-up to the 2014
Winter Olympics in Sochi.
L
F
by
Wojciech Jagielski
or several years now, sports franchises in Caucuses
have astonished the world by purchasing renowned
soccer professionals. This summer Dagestan club Anzhi
Makhachkala took top honors by luring Cameroonian
Samuel Eto’o, among the world’s best strikers, from his
Inter Milan club home. Anzi paid almost $40 million in
transfer fees while Eto’o got a $20 million annual salary.
A $5 million dollars deal led former Brazilian world
champion Roberto Carlos, now in his twilight to move to
Makhachkala, the main team in Dagestan’s capital. He
was joined there by Russian national team player Yuri
Zirkov, who left London’s Chelsea, and Hungarian national squad member Balazs Dzsudzsak, who left his
Dutch club.
Anzhi owner Suleyman Kerimov is among Russia’s
richest men. He buys players for sport. He’s said to be
ready to pay $50 million for Brazil’s Neymar, who major
western clubs are vying to sign. His other targets include
Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard of Chelsea, Steven
Gerrard of Liverpool, and London-based Russians Andrei
Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. He’s even attempted to lure Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho with a $20
million annually salary and keeps hoping that Mourinho, a Portuguese eccentric known for his vanity, will
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eventually yield to the courtship of the Caucasus.
But ambitious Dagestan has its hands full with its equally motivated Chechen neighbors. The president of
local club Terek, Ramzan Kadyrov, also happens to be the
country’s president. He’s also a Kremlin favorite. Kadyrov has gone on a number of spending sprees of his own,
picking up Brazil’s Ewerthon and Argentine Hector Bracamonte. He made global headlines a year ago when he
lured former Dutch footballer and coach Ruud Gullit
from California, offering him the head-coaching job. He
also made them six months later when he fired Gullit,
claiming he was spending too much time partying and
too little time coaching.
There’s logic to the Anzhi and Terek money spree. They
want name players and name coaches to make them popular and lead them to major success in elite European
competition, in particular the Champions League.
Of Russia’s 16 Premier League teams, six come from the
strife-torn Caucasus. In addition to Anzhi and Terek
there’s Spartak-Nalchik of Kabardino-Balkaria, two teams
from Krasnodar, one from Rostov on Don. Vladikaukaz
from Alania will join next year.
Mairbek Vatchagaev, secretary to former Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and now an author and journalist, is convinced the sudden flowering of Caucuses soccer is directly linked to the coming 2014 Winter Olympics
in Sochi, a city located just north Russia’s border with
Abkhazia, a Black Sea territory that styles itself as independent. Moscow, says Vatchagaev, is determined that
the Games are held an impressive, peaceful environment,
showcasing the country in much the same way that Beijing did the 2008 Summer Games, using them to climb
several rungs on the global political ladder, at least in
public relations terms. “The Kremlin and the Caucus ‘regents’ want to create the impression that on the eve of the
Sochi Olympics, the region is a bulwark of peace and harmony, and that the only ‘conflict’ is on the soccer field.”
I
n the decade between 2010 and 2020 Russia is scheduled to organize two major sporting events, the 2014
Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 World Cup. At the
same time, the war in the Caucasus has been raging for
years and has spilled over into mainstream Russia. Caucasus Emirate separatists carried out suicide attacks in
the Moscow metro in March 2010 (at least 40 people were
killed, and over 100 injured) and Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport in January (37 dead and nearly
200 injured). The attacks give the West pause when it
comes to the ability of Russian security to maintain peace
in Sochi, which from a geographical point of view is part
of the Great Caucasus.
The Circassian (or Adyghe) people, a core group in the
Caucasian population, consider Sochi as part of their territory, paradoxically setting the Winter Games in one of
Russia’s most contested areas. In nearby Krasna Polana,
Russian army troops brutally put down a Caucasian uprising in 1864, closing out Moscow’s conquest of the Caucuses. The war cost the lives of an estimated 1.5 million
Circassians, with many deported to the Middle East and
Turkey. Today, the Caucasian population, which includes
the Circassians, Kabardians, Abkhazians, and Shapsugs,
are a minority in their own homelands.
Ap Photo / S. Rasulov Jr.
When ‘Loving’ Sports
Becomes a Cover Story
NEW BUSINESS
Brazilian Roberto Carlos of Anzhi, right, with his Dagestan,
Russia soccer club. The team competes in the Russian
Premier League. Roberto Carlos, wearing a Caucasus fur hat,
poses with team coach Arsen Akayev.
east . europe and asia strategies
number 39 . december 2011
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News Team / Afp / Getty Images
Ap Photo / Str
A video still shows police officers at the scene of a damaged car
near the site of twin explosions in Makhachkala,
the capital of Dagestan. The Sept. 22 blast was one
of several that detonated in the capital,
Kissing a police officer and injuring dozens of civilians.
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or the Circassians, the Russian occupation was tantamount to genocide, which they believe Russia should
admit in the same way it recognized the Armenian genocide in Turkey. The idea of organizing the Olympics on
what amounts to the burial grounds of the ancestors is
considered further mockery of their tragedy by those who
carried it out. Moreover, the Winter Games are set to take
place on the 150 th anniversary of the Krasna Polana massacre (the battlefield will host some of the skiing competitions) that saw tsarist troops slaughter tens of thousands. Russia, for its part, has so far ignored Circassians
complaints and hunger strikes. But the crux of the matter
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Anzhi striker Samuel Eto’o during a Russian Premier League
in Maykop, the capital of Adygea. It will do the same in
Stavropol and Krasnodar.
It’s also indebted to Kadyrov, who constantly refers to
his country (until recently a synonym for war’s horrors)
as the quietest place in Russia, soon destined to become
not only the most beautiful but also the richest.
soccer match against FC Rostov in Rostov-on-Don in October.
Eto’o moved from Inter Milan to the Russian club late last summer.
is another: The Caucasian War, previously focused on
Chechnya and Ingushetia, has edged into to Caspian Sea
Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria, next door to Sochi (the
Olympic Village, in fact, will be located about 150 kilometers from Grozny).
Though the Russians have repeatedly said the war is
over and they won, fighting in the region has in fact coneast . europe and asia strategies
tinued without interruption for nearly two decades. The
superiority of the Russian army and its brutal pacification
efforts has turned partisan resistance into terrorism,
which both partisans and Russians using its techniques.
Hundreds of Russian soldiers in the Caucasus die annually in shootings and ambushes. The Kremlin worries because the death toll has gone up in Kabardino-Balkaria,
which was previously stable. Partisan warfare has led to
the closing of alpine trails in the Elbrus Mountains. Before the Olympics, Moscow intends to fortify its garrisons
number 39 . december 2011
R
ussia put Kadyrov in power six years ago, replacing
his father Ahmad who was killed in a soccer stadium
attack. Too young to take over the presidency immediately, Ramzan was given the prime minister’s role. Backed by
then Russian President Vladimir Putin, he received a free
hand and unlimited funds, on the condition he restore order to Chechnya. Ramzan did his best, and by any means.
His repressive violence ushered in an age of tyranny.
But the younger Kadyrov took advantage of his pact
with the to rebuild devastated Chechnya. In war-razed
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Tm News / InfoPhoto
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov plays
in a charity game against former Brazilian stars.
Grozny, he created residential neighborhoods, boulevards, parks, fountains, the largest hospital in the Caucasus, and the largest mosque in Europe. He also oversaw
the construction of a modern stadium. All the buildings
were named in honor of his assassinated father. In an effort to win a global consensus and prove to the world that
peace reigned in Chechnya and the Caucasus, Kadyrov
worked to import celebrity foreigners. Their presence, he
thought, would help attract media coverage and create a
more benign vision of the country. If well-known people
attended conference in the Caucasus, Western media
couldn’t portray life as miserable or dangerous as rumor.
His approach has worked, at least in part.
“Today, Chechnya and Dagestan come up in the news
in connection with famous soccer players, not in terms of
warfare,” says Mairbek Vatchagaev. “Western readers are
immediately mesmerized by the extravagance of the Cau56
east . europe and asia strategies
Ruud Gullit arriving in Grozny
where he took the reigns
of the Terek Grozny team at the behest
of owner Kadyrov. His stay was short-lived.
speculator who turned into a billionaire in the blink of an eye; also like
Abramovic, Kerimov has friends in all
the important offices of the Kremlin.
He got involved in soccer in Dagestan
at the invitation of local monarch Mohammed Salam Mohammedov, who
assumed the post of president after his
father, who had ruled for more than a
quarter of a century.
T
he oligarchs have also worked to set up lavish birthday parties, such as Kadyrov’s 35th. Grozny suddenly got the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Vanessa Mae,
Seal and Academy Award winner Hilary Swank, who
sang happy birthday to Kadyrov as Marilyn Monroe once
did to John F Kennedy. The London “Daily Mail” tabloid
reported that Mae charged a fee of $500,000 to perform at
the concert, and sources claimed that Van Damme received $1 million, while Swank was also paid, according
to media reports. Local entrepreneurs allegedly shelled
out the money necessary to get the stars in and out.
Not surprisingly, the Grozny birthday party enraged
human rights activists. “Few leaders in the world violate
the basic rights and freedoms of human beings in the way
Ramzan Kadyrov does,” said Human Rights Watch. “The
movie stars who, by their presence, brought distinction
to reception organized in his honor, and took money to
do it, helped to give credibility to his government and in
so doing showed contempt for the victims of tyranny.”
According to the American organization Freedom House,
Kadyrov’s dictatorship is comparable only to that of
North Korea, Burma or Chinese management of Tibet.
Freedom House calls Kadyrov contemptuous of democracy and human rights, says he exercises absolute power
in Grozny, and alleges that he ordered the murder of
politicians and journalists he considered threatening or
uncomfortable to his rule.
Returning from Grozny, a contrite Swank admitted she
number 39 . december 2011
Tm News / InfoPhoto
casus nabobs, and as a result don’t think much about the
tyranny or the corruption.”
Kadyrov has become something of a PR expert. Years ago, he was able to attract former heavyweight champion
Mike Tyson to visit Grozny. This year, doling out even
more cash, he managed to get members of Brazil’s 2002
World Cup-winning team to play a charity match in
March. Kadyrov took the field with the Chechen national team in a game against the likes of Romario, Rai, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Bebeto. The stadium was lined with
portraits of Putin and Kadyrov, with troops inside armed
to the teeth. Ramzan of course scored at will. The next
such game, this one held in May, saw the presence of Diego Maradona, Luis Figo, Franco Baresi, Fabien Barthez,
Steve McManaman, and Enzo Francescoli. “These games
show what life is truly life in Chechnya,” said a beaming
Ramzan, meeting the press. “In the West, people say
Chechnya is about murders, and that I am a great villain.
Well, here’s a demonstration that we live in a normal way,
with our joys and worries, the same as everyone else.”
The players were also up to the PR challenge. “People
here live well, and things are getting better,” said former
Portuguese star Figo at the end of the game. “Everyone
has problems, and we, by playing soccer, help them to put
them aside for a while,” said Brazilian Cafu.
In the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, these exhibition
games are organized by local oligarchs or industrialists
allied with the government. Most became wealthy as a result of the privatization of the assets from the former Soviet Communist empire. Chechen billionaire Bulat Chagaev, who lives in Switzerland, was responsible for getting Maradona and Figo to play in Grozny. He was also
the financial driving force behind Gullit’s hiring and has
financed most of Terek’s recent acquisitions.
Modeling himself on a number of Russian tycoons who
capitalized on the aftermath of the fall of the USSR (including Roman Abramovic Alisher Usmanov, who own
London teams Chelsea and Arsenal, respectively), Chagaeav recently purchased the Swiss team Neuchatel Xamax. Just as Abramovic never turns down Putin, Chagaeav, whether out of gratitude, friendship or fear, capitulates to every Kadyrov whim.
Suleyman Kerimov, the Anzhi Makhachkala boss and
the man who pays Eto’o’s and Roberto Carlos’ checks, also made his fortune in the post-Soviet privatization era.
Like Abramovic, he was little more than a small-time
no idea who Kadyrov was, and would turn down her fee
for the birthday appearance (“If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be,” she
said in a statement, “ I would never have gone.”) Former
French star Zinedine Zidane has refused to play in
Grozny and Brazilian player Rai, after participating in the
Grozny exhibition, said he regretted being involved in
something whose consequences he didn’t fully understand at the time.
Former Gullit saw n need to apologize. “I play football,”
he told the newspaper “De Volkskrant,” “The rest doesn’t matter to me. I just want to give people a little joy.”
But British Labour Party politician Frank Judd, long active in the Caucasus debate and in human rights issues,
was skeptical of Gullit’s explanation, suggesting he’d fallen headlong into a Kadyrov propaganda trap.
“The great flowering of soccer in the Caucasus is an illusion, the same illusion that insists that blessed peace
reigns in the region,” says Vatchagaev. Anzhi Makhachkala’s new stars live and train in Moscow. They’re in
Chechnya only for the games. Even Terek’s players aren’t
housed in Grozny, but at the Russian spa resort of Kislovodsk, about 200 kilometers away. They’re essentially guests of Chechnya.
“For Caucasus big shots, who are basically posting as
Arab sheiks, soccer is fashionable, it’s a whim,” concluded Vatchagaev. “But what what’s a fad in the Middle East,
is a political diktat in the Caucasus.”
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