Russia’s Nazi salute taunt in poisoning row
RUSSIA has tried to provoke Britain by publishing a photograph of England footballers giving a Nazi salute in 1938 as the diplomatic row over poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal escalates.
Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov sent the image to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson after he likened Russia’s hosting of the World Cup to Hitler’s 1936 Olympics.
Mr Johnson has said president Vladimir Putin would ‘glory’ in holding the event in June and July after the attempt to kill Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last month.
In response, Mr Lavrov sent the image as a reminder of when Sir Stanley Matthews
‘Bringing up mistakes made years ago’
and his team were ordered to make the salute on May 14, 1938, by the Football Association and the British ambassador.
A Foreign Office source told The Sunday Mirror: ‘Lavrov is deliberately trying to provoke the Government by suggesting it was complicit in fascism. They are trying to draw attention from the evil they are still carrying out by bringing up mistakes made the best part of 100 years ago.’
Russia taunted the UK with the Berlin photo after Mr Johnson agreed that Putin would exploit the World Cup as Adolf Hitler did the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
He told the Commons foreign affairs select committee: ‘The comparison with 1936 is certainly right. It is an emetic prospect of Putin glorying in this event.’
The England team was told to make the salute at Berlin’s Olympic stadium to comply with Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement.
Sir Stanley Matthews’ son Stanley Jnr has said of the photograph: ‘None of the British players really wanted to salute, but were told by the FA “you’d have to do it or you’d never play for England again”.
‘I’m sure my father wouldn’t like appeasing the Germans. He wasn’t happy doing it, but felt he had to, because of the pressure from the FA and the ambassador.’