‘Athletes are being held hostage’: Russian official bids to de-dollarize national sport
A Russian MP is bidding to protect local athletes from “being held hostage” to political forces by limiting the use of US dollars in Russian sport, amid broader efforts to move the country away from the greenback.
Mikhail Degtyarev, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism and Youth, submitted the bill on Tuesday, according to reports in the Russian media.
Degtyarev is seeking to reduce transactions in dollars by sports organizations in Russia, so as to shield them and their athletes from anti-Russian sanctions or political fallout amid strained relations with the US.
“Today, sport is increasingly becoming a hostage of political and informational interstate wars, a means of punishment and a lever of influence in achieving geopolitical ambitions,” said Degtyarev, 37, an MP for the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).
“We were convinced of this after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang using the example of the so-called ‘doping scandal,’ which lasted for the last years.
“Many athletes who have given years of their life to achieve a sporting result, who have earnestly won their medals, are held hostage to this situation,” the MP added.
“In order to protect Russian sports from the negative effects of possible sanctions and threats of their expansion, as well as the interference of foreign politicians, a draft law was developed aimed at reducing dependence on the US dollar in the field of physical culture and sports.”
The official added that the steps would be part of Russia’s broader 'de-dollarization' efforts to make the nation less susceptible to attempts to bar it from transactions in the US currency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that finding alternatives to the dollar was a matter of national security.
Waves of US sanctions have attempted to prevent Russian companies from access to the dollar, which is the currency of choice for many key industries such as oil and gas.
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In his draft bill, Degtyarev said Russia could limit the number of local sporting organizations which deal in dollars to an authorized list, as well as working more with countries who were undertaking similar efforts to step away from the greenback.
Degtyarev concluded by saying that the adoption of the law would “allow Russia to be protected from possible sanctions pressure.”
