Corruption and bigotry: welcome to another Olympic Games

The Winter Olympics in Sochi may have the dubious honour of being the most corrupt and expensive Olympics in history. At $51 billion, it exceeds the cost of all previous Winter Olympics combined.

Some of the money went towards building infrastructure that could make real the brilliant idea of holding the games in the warmest part of Russia. Most of it went to cronies who obtained the Olympic contracts, such as Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, who pocketed $7.4 billion worth for being childhood friends of Putin.

Perhaps the best illustration of the corruption is the 29-kilometre road that connects Sochi to the mountain sports hub of Krasnaya Polyana. It cost a staggering $8.6 billion – roughly three times the cost of the research, development, deployment and operation of NASA’s Curiosity Rover on Mars.

The firm in charge was Russian Railways, whose president, Vladimir Yakunin, owns a villa next to Putin’s. While Putin’s friends were lining their pockets, the actual facilities were built by workers toiling on 12-hour shifts, with abysmal pay, no safety conditions and almost no days off. Twenty-five workers have been killed on the job.

In the exciting race to see who could rip off the most money, the environment also had to pay the price. Russian Railways was found to operate several quarries of questionable legality on land rented by the state construction company Oiympstroy.

Tonnes of garbage were dumped unceremoniously near the source of the Mzymta River, which supplies most of Sochi’s drinking water.

Yevgeny Vitishko, an environmental activist from Environmental Watch on North Caucasus, was due to present a report on the damage caused by the Sochi construction. But he was arrested for “swearing in public” and imprisoned for the duration of the games.

Then there is the vile and blatant homophobia pushed by Putin. Most infamous are the laws forbidding “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations”, which essentially make it illegal to acknowledge that LGBTI people exist.

This, along with brutal racism against migrants, has been worsening steadily over the past two years, not least because of the protests against corruption that shook the Putin regime in 2011-12.

The government response to mass unrest has been to point the finger at the most vulnerable groups in Russia and encourage pogroms by fascists.

The International Olympic Committee has been far more concerned with making sure the Olympics take place in an orderly fashion, and the investors get their money’s worth, than with Putin’s crimes.

It has barely uttered a peep about the vast corruption, the destruction of local villages and the environment or Putin’s LGBTI laws. Jean-Claude Killy, head of the IOC inspection team in Russia, stated, “As long as the Olympic Charter is respected, we are satisfied. This is the case.”

Western governments (the same ones that largely control the IOC) were quick to condemn the mass homophobia and terror employed by Russia.

US President Obama put together a delegation consisting of openly gay former athletes, stating, “There is no doubt we wanted to make it very clear that we do not abide by discrimination in anything, including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

This has little to do with concern for human rights, and more to do with trying to show up its geopolitical rival, particularly one that has been increasingly challenging US influence in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Putin has long hoped that the Winter Olympics will showcase Russia’s power and boost its image in the world. However, there is a chance that athletes themselves will take a stand against the brutal oppression of LGBTI people.

The inspiring history of John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists in a Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics is a shining example of what is possible.

The games also coincide with the call by leading Russian LGBTI activist Nikolai Alekseev to organise a Sochi Pride March, and there are plans by Russian left activists to defy the ban on protest.

The Winter Games should be seen as an emblem of the brutality of Putin and the hypocrisy of the West.