Georgian athletes eschew politics

George Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Specially for VK.

Georgia is already living with the thought of the upcoming parliamentary elections in the autumn. Using a cliché, one can say that "the situation becomes more heated every day." Representatives of the wider public are involved In the political process. This is quite natural, given how important the parliamentary race of 2012 can become for the country. Against this background, no one was surprised by a strong statement by the former captain of the Georgian national football team, Kakha Kaladze, who addressed the public with a claim related to the interrogation of the mass movement "Georgian Dream," led by the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

“Recently, absolutely absurd questioning of the “Georgian Dream” supporters has become widespread. Certain officials, who use the law as a cover, are putting pressure on citizens," the famous football player noted, accusing President Saakashvili of “crossing all acceptable borders," and trying to "force ‘Georgian dream’ to make mistakes and using sheer provocation. "I also want to tell all the officials who are now taking part in punitive operations, that the patience of the Georgian people is not infinite, and the time will come when absolutely everyone who has committed a crime will be in the dock. We will not forgive the current regime its constant terror and violence against the people," Kaladze threatened.

For objectivity's sake, we note that the matter in question is the Control Chamber inspecting how fully the billionaire Ivanishvili’s movement is fulfilling the law "On financing of political parties", which prohibits (as in all democratic countries) undue influence of big money on the political process and regards this as bribing the voters.

By and large, neither the tone nor the substance of the address by the famous football player surprised observers: as Ivanishvili’s business partner, who bought out and saved his bank Kala-Kapital from ruin, Kakha Kaladze has the reputation of an uncompromising opponent of President Saakashvili. During last year's presentation of the billionaire’s civic movement "Georgian Dream", Kaladze, who had arrived from Italy in Silvio Berlusconi’s plane together with the Ukrainian striker Andrei Shevchenko specially for the event, made a sensational statement of resignation from the national team in protest against the policy of Saakashvili. However, other players did not support Kaladze, and veterans did not even hide their surprise. "Who does he think he is? How dare he assume the right to speak on behalf of the players? Is he comparable with the legends of Georgian football - Sasha Chivadze and David Kipiani? " Rezo Chelebadze, a formerly well-known striker of the Dynamo Tbilisi, asked indignantly in an interview to VK. It is difficult to suspect him of some special relationship with the Saakashvili administration. The point is that the refusal to play for the national team as a sign of political protest against the government really looks absurd: after all, a team is supported by the citizens regardless of their political views, because the football team is a national symbol.

Equally critical reactions to Kaladze’s solution came from all the other football players and sports experts interviewed by VK, including legendary players of Dynamo Tbilisi of the 1970s. The basic reason is their unwillingness to accept the politicization of sport. And this applies not only to the players. With the smallest exception (European champion in freestyle wrestling Kurtanidze Luke was a close ally of former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze), Georgian athletes emphatically distance themselves from the political process. The reason, apparently, is that, having witnessed many disasters during last 20 years, they realized the transitory nature of political priorities. And sport is one of those spheres of human activity where  enduring values are being created and athletes do not want to risk these values in favor of political ambitions and the current state of affairs.