Gifts for Russia’s heroes spark dispute
Medallists showered with cash, expensive cars, apartments despite country’s economic problems
>> MOSCOW: Luxury cars, apartments, even a racehorse — being an Olympic medallist in Russia can come with great material rewards but also controversy.
Under President Vladimir Putin, it’s become a tradition for Russia’s Olympic heroes to be showered with large cash sums and sometimes unwanted gifts.
On Friday, less than 24 hours after dozens of medallists were presented with BMW cars at the Kremlin by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, an advertisement appeared online offering one of them for sale, with photographs showing the car still covered in stickers celebrating Russia’s medal haul in Rio.
The advertisement offering the BMW X6 for 4.67 million roubles (US$72,000) was anonymous and quickly withdrawn. It couldn’t be independently verified by The Associated Press, though Russian agency R-Sport claimed the seller was a Russian medallist who thought the car was too big and unwieldy.
Figure skater Maxim Trankov, who received a Mercedes-Benz SUV for his gold medal in 2014, said few Olympians could afford to own such cars.
“Has no one thought that these gift cars are not only liable for the tax on luxury items, but also aren’t cheap to run and earnings can’t cover it?’’ he wrote on Twitter. “I’d sell mine too if it came to it... Or does everyone think all sports pay as well as soccer, hockey or tennis?’’
Gymnast Seda Tutkhalyan said she wouldn’t be able to drive her new BMW because at 17 years of age she was too young to have a licence.
While online commenters mostly supported an athlete’s right to sell expensive Olympic gifts, many were critical of the government for a display of conspicuous consumption at the Kremlin at a time when Russia’s pension and healthcare systems are under financial strain.
It’s not fully clear how much the prizes have cost t he Russian government.
State TV channel Rossiya 24 reported that the fleet of BMWs was provided by the Olympians’ Support Fund, which is backed by a group of Russia’s richest men, but that the accompanying cash prizes of tens of thousands of dollars per medallist came in part from the federal budget.
More awards are on offer from regional governments, many of which made public displays of generosity despite financial troubles of their own.
The Caucasus region of North Ossetia last month promised a free apartment for any medallists from the area, though it isn’t clear if this has happened yet. In another grand gesture, the head of the restive Dagestan region gave Olympic wrestling champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev 6 million roubles ($93,000) in cash and a racehorse at a lavish welcoming ceremony featured on local TV.
Still, all may not be well for Sadulaev, who’s nicknamed the “Russian Tank’’ for his habit of crushing opponents on the wrestling mat. He’s already facing an allegation from a Moscow radio presenter of reckless driving in his eye-catching BMW.
CAS RULING APPEAL
Russia has appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland over the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling to reject an appeal that would have allowed Russians to compete in the Paralympics.
“We have appealed to Swiss justice [over the CAS ruling],” Russian Paralympic Committee head Vladimir Lukin told Interfax news agency on Friday, without giving any further details.
Lukin added that at least 266 Paralympians were to launch individual cases at the European Court for Human Rights.
Russia last week appealed a decision by the International Paralympic Committee to suspend the country over evidence of statesponsored doping, something that saw all of its track and field athletes bar Florida-based long jumper Darya Klishina barred from the Olympics.
After the Lausanne-based CAS announced it had rejected Russia’s Paralympic appeal on Tuesday, Russian Sports Minister V italy Mutko condemned what he called a “political” decision.
President Vladimir Putin said the decision was “outside the law, morality, humanity”.
Russia narrowly escaped a blanket ban from the Rio Olympics last month when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) left it up to world sports federations to determine which Russians were eligible to compete while granting itself a final say.
Russia finished fourth in the Rio medal table with its 56 medals, including 19 gold.
The Paralympic Games run from Sept 7-18 in Rio.