Must we play Russia’s World Cup game?
IT could have been a scene from a Cold War thriller. A former KGB colonel who spied for Britain is found collapsed on a bench near his adopted home in rural England. Alongside him is his daughter. Both appear to have been poisoned.
Though details are still sketchy, the finger of suspicion points firmly at Vladimir Putin. Of course, the Kremlin denies all knowledge, but Mr Putin has a grisly record of having opponents murdered abroad. Who could forget the chilling polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko?
So if it is proved that Mr Putin was behind this latest attack, how should the Government retaliate? Yes, it should expel known Russian agents, which would almost certainly invite tit-for-tat expulsions from Moscow. Yes, it could impose sanctions on oligarchs – many of whom have their homes and money here and educate their children at British schools and universities.
But what would really hurt Mr Putin would be to shame him in front of the world.
Which brings us to the question raised by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson yesterday of whether England should take part in the football World Cup, due to be held in Russia this summer.
Mr Johnson initially appeared to hint we should pull out altogether. But after a predictable storm of protest, he said he had been referring only to a possible boycott by ‘officials and dignitaries’. This would of course include Prince William, who is president of the FA.
Given Mr Putin’s belligerence in Ukraine and Crimea and ruthless bombing of civilians in Syria (not to mention the drugs scandal in Russian sport) it was an outrage that he was awarded the tournament at all.
He should be a pariah but, because of the cynicism and venality of the international football authorities, he’s been handed a perfect opportunity to strut the world stage.
It would be shameful if Prince William or any Royal attended. The Mail accepts that we are unlikely to withdraw altogether. But profound questions remain over whether the team should attend.
Russia is a gangster state and Putin a tyrannical bully, whose thugs are suspected of committing murder on British soil. Do we really want to endorse his grotesque World Cup propaganda coup?