announcement many are once again asking what the next summer's soccer world cup which is of course set to be hosted by russia is in the right. after all one person above all looks to benefit from the tournament that is a lot of uniformity so the question here on quadrant of this week is putin's games is russia playing fair with sports and to discuss that question i'm joined here in the studio by eric ball he writes for the los angeles times and who has a long track record in covering sports and especially soccer and he says banning the russian to you from the winter olympics is a bold but brilliant move also with us is very near as he paul from torture about his russian development team believes it doesn't matter what you think of the russian government the twenty eighteen world cup is going to be a huge celebration of soca for everybody bloody me that has to be goat he say. and a warm welcome to to darrius of caught choke a freelance journalist working for russian and english language publications daddio argues that the doping scandal is painful to witness but not really surprising to anyone familiar with the mindset of russian officials. welcome once again to will for if you would like to begin with you eric it was described as one of the weightiest decisions ever faced by the olympic movement it has now been decided russia has been banned from competing in the twenty eighteen winter olympics in south korea you say it is a bold but brilliant move why bold why brilliant i think the i.o.c. needed to take a firm step this time they've been pussyfooting around for a long time with doping and the evidence was overwhelming in this case criminal energy that when the sochi to using spies to six change the urine samples is amazing when you read this you just can't believe this really happened and they had to do it to save any credibility the winter olympics have been sliding downhill for a long time in the ratings people care less and less about it i used to love sports i used to go to the i covered the olympics in athens and beijing now i don't even watch it i think it's all just ruined by doping so this is a really heartening development for me to see the i.o.c. taking a firm step i think thomas bach did the right thing by cracking down hard but leaving a bridge open for the russians to take part if they can prove that they're clean topping you might say you might say you might say bold and brilliant is it the zero tolerance that the international olympic committee had promised because there will be russian athletes after all competing at the at the games hopefully the russian hockey players figure skaters sports where doping is not really an issue hopefully the world will see some of these great russian hockey players on the ice i'm looking forward to seeing russian hockey players again. before i come to the two russians who have who we have in the finals and i'd just like to stick with you for just a second eric because i mean. let me give you a flavor of what's being said from the russian side a russian foreign ministry spokeswoman came out and said they're always trying to. down put us down in everything a way of life our cultural history and sport what do you say to such sentiments ridiculous i mean this is all in a circle meant mentality we see it with nato they're afraid that nato isn't circling this well i think most people in the west realize this is ridiculous and hopefully nobody will take it too serious that's russia's problem of they feel that the west is in a circle and that's russia's problem they think that the i.o.c. is going after them for doping when they've been caught red handed i think most people outside russia see it differently not him has been looking very thoughtful daria's be looking very full diary you say you're post a reaction to this you talk about doping scandal of the whole saga being painful tell us about the pain well to be honest i guess just like most people in russia i did not expect the russian team to win the sochi olympics so when russia won it was a great surprise i was actually really happy to witness it and cheer just like everybody else. it was a great surprise but then afterwards when this whole doping scandal started i realized that it was fake the feeling can be compared to someone giving you a christmas present making her happy with it and then you realize that the gifts are is actually have betrayal shoplifter we stole a present from someone else you know i was not surprised of meaning no such i didn't expect was it's perfect at that are russian political goals i think a russian on some political level wanted to be first in the sochi olympics at any cost and it was no question of course the best time for us to go and three and a half years ago so russia got this prize in the sochi olympics with huge cost of the opening and this is the problem of russia to have a huge missions on the international level in the have a reality of it not always fit to be some decisions because this can be used dumping which is the same things to do so ban of from there in bits and such as in korea it's complete disaster for russia it's a question yeah i'm pretty sure that was the goal but i remember reading all the forecast right before the olympics nobody expected russia to be even to take even the third place where it is now. yeah it was a nice surprise for russian people in there as a present us norman but there is a saturday i'm not surprised a bit but fulfilling these goals by any means. before we continue the conversation and let's just take a closer look at. what the allegations of state backed doping amounts to. the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi russia the host nation won thirty three medals more than any other country russia and president vladimir putin came off looking like champions but did they play fair or were the real champions that doping laps. two years after the games had investigator for the world anti-doping agency richard mclaren published some serious allegations the moscow laboratory operated for the protection of doped russian athletes within a state directed feel safe system the russian ministry of sport directed controlled and oversaw the manipulation of athletes analytical results no less than the head of russia's only anti-doping laboratory wrote chunk of was chief witness he left for the united states as did you. a runner who had reported systematic doping in russian sports and started the ball rolling. are the accusations of state sponsored doping just mudslinging against russia. but i mean what do you say to that question all these allegations just mudslinging on the part of the west a conspiracy on the part of the west against putin's efforts to make russia once again a strong nation it fits the. kind of paranoia i have in the country since couple of yes. i'm not sharing this so it's not my opinion but it's opinion who is sharing a lot of people in russia the vest on war us it won't jump in your inbox you go on trying to destroy russia on some level. and it's a bad thing because there's no way all it's just escalating with every sanction against russia just as collating this conflict there between russia and the vest and more is all i'm not sharing this opinion is this the mindset the you with the russian mindset that you were referring to the beginning of the showing your quote of the beginning that well i meant actually something else something of legend we're also mentioned. that it is pretty common for russian officials to chip to cheat on things i mean russia is a remarkably corrupt country if those people without blinking an eye steal so much money from the state budget why can't they fake doping samples that's a good point. if they do not value any kind of fair play they just want a victory at any price because you have no such rules the light came invest and lawrence the russians are quite a young country in terms of state structures because they have complete collapse on the state ninety one so i really think is new in the these rules fixation in russia is not that strong that in germany or in the vest and in generals there are always the question of how to interpret your interpretation of the rule saw you can steal you can cheat you can not get punished for this and it is a mind sent in the country it's not the government in my mind set of this or in the whole at all a new level in the in the country in russia in the population its like acceptable very kewl thought i mean hopefully that's why i think this is a good move by the i.o.c. is hopefully they'll learn the lesson this time i think i would talk about east germany and germany they had their whole doping history as well i think germany learned from that i don't think germany anybody thinks that there's any serious doping going on in germany. so hopefully these sanctions will have a educational effect on not only russia but other countries that are thinking about doping and that's why i think it's a smart move by the i.o.c. tough sanctions but leaving the door open for individual russian athletes to take part in voting what did you what did you make of the announcement yesterday president putin's announcement that he's going to be standing again for the presidency what did you make of the timing of that announcement i'm not surprised that there will be a new timing and there's just accident that it was yesterday it could be tomorrow it could be the big before i mean it doesn't play in your role i'm not sure later see differently i mean yeah i wouldn't even say it's a new thing everybody knew he was running going on ok let's listen to the talking of president putin and what he has been saying he also came out yesterday didn't just talk about the candidacy he talked he gave his immediate reaction to the doping ban let's listen to what logically putin had to say. to really get upset all of this looks like an absolutely manipulated and politically motivated decision we see this i have no doubts about it because you could use them. there is this i mean the language that you get from the russian president the sense is that the east and west are still locked in a sporting cold war is not the case i mean to see itself as i mean i'm russian citizen but i'm not see myself as a part of this paranoia but russian government and to be part of russian society see themselves in a kind of cold war with the best and obviously saw what happening with the olympic games it's part fits perfectly to this picture of the north of you are trying to be destroyed on some level by the best in country and i'm not surprised but it's statement at all eric a cold war sporting cold war between the east and the west you smile i think it's ridiculous but i mean i think this fits into putin's strategy and it makes put more popular at home probably but makes him less popular around the world i think he just hurts his credibility outside russia more and more with this static strategy i think putin doesn't really care about his for him work and it's all of question for him one question that comes to mind is does putin care for the athletes i mean the athletes in some ways if you just perpetrate is part of the russians doping system but at the same time they're also victims of the system you mentioned you know east german systematic doping in east germany. you know that had a huge impact on the health the long term health of many of the people who were you know involved in those doping practices how concerned is putin about that how concerned are russian people about that russian people as very concerned a mob of because of adult winter olympics it's a disaster for russia because we're all i'm not saying the opposite but the winter olympics but it's playing extremely huge role in the russian public opinion and so is the child to your bring up in russia watching every four years they're going to him because you're diffusing through not seeing russian flag not hearing russian and them and their name because it's a disaster. how are the russians likely to respond in sporting terms darted to this . i have been observing the reactions in the media for the last couple of days since the news breaks and since yesterday. i could say that the reactions of very different quite a lot of people are saying that the russian team should go anyway. i am personally on that side as well because for the athletes it is something they have been preparing for for their whole lives it is really could be a pinnacle of their career for many of them and they definitely deserve to go if they can prove that they are clean. and i do not thing why they should miss out on any of it but quite a lot of people are saying that the asteroid's going anyway despite the ban on the russian team would be tantamount to national treachery that is something that as a as a russian journalist here a lot of those once unfortunately people somehow tend to associate the country the state and the name of ludmer putin together and if you do something which is not in the general line you're supposed to be a traitor so it's deciding to go and compete on the olympics just because of their ambition despite their country being so not representing their country but more representing themselves to some people would by some people would definitely be seen as torture and we have already seen reactions like that quite a lot actually but thankfully putin himself has said that he will not be obstructing athletes to go from so i'm quite hopeful that a lot of russian athletes would say it was a really encouraging signal this week that putin did call for a boycott there was a fear that he would and he did it i mean we had the eighty in the eighty four olympics that were tainted by the political boycotts over afghanistan and so it's encouraging i mean this is why i'm optimistic that it could be a good olympics after all and that russia will be back with its team in four years you just have to do the best from the situation and outlets to go and be. some to try to solve the word reconvened with all dumping. just give me a would on whether you believe because we keep talking a lot of new putin is controlling role role in all this does does he always sure that he knows and has known about the about the extent of the the systematic doping practiced by the russian federation i don't think anything i don't know anything for sure but i'm kind can just declare that yeah i'm new in just tired of all these docking system i'm not sure the huge new everything and in the last detail he aligned himself very closely to the sochi olympics fifty billion dollars were spent to build a winter olympic venue in a summer resort the i.o.c. loved him for it nobody really wants to bid for the winter olympics anymore putin did and so putin baka very close that's why it's all the more remarkable that bach had the courage to take these sanctions so it's hard to imagine putin had no clue this was going on but i'm not sure he was controlling the state pumping system in the last no no i don't know either nobody knows every public was going on. record on this because no one knows for sure you know. i wish i did i wish i did yeah ok we need to move on just a little bit we need to talk about how the the doping saga of the doping scandal is going to impact on russia's hosting of the soccer world cup next summer especially given the amount of hope that russian president vladimir putin is investing in the world cup and the russian people indeed that's what your report first of all before we talk about that. allegedly reach. a strong man in the kremlin knows p.r. putin is well known for his love of images like these the athletic outdoors the sportsman and he has no qualms about showing it potent is not known as a football fan but he brought the twenty eighteen world cup to russia and russians are overjoyed. he will definitely play in the finals i'm just waiting for the finals and we're going to win i've been waiting for this world championship for forty years now. that. the countdown to the twenty eighteen world cup in russia is on it's the same year as russia's next presidential elections it may well provide a handsome return our sports in russia upon and putin's power games. it's a question we will will we have been addressing we will continue to address but i want to go first of love the man who is a very very big soccer fans and who is looking forward very much to the soccer world cup tell us more about him that i'm really. looking forward to his sort of game in some sort of book in my home every time i reference and it has broken in the middle of the night them on the new highway by a new for soccer star and once in the book and it's complete soria what's what's it got in the city i am breaking from my tickets for one game and simpers book. argentina participates oh i got this tickets and i won to say that. it's not on the porch and rushes on future mon the people who though and it's for russian people on the average level for the normal russians it's a huge huge celebration it's a huge event and the whole situation for the book as well as other speeches and there are all across russia looking forward to hostile work to come no matter how bad the dropping was no matter how bad the corruption was. no matter how many money was stolen during these buildings it's a huge to the british and i was talking to a leading german sports journalist after the announcement of the ban on the parties russians had special in the in the winter olympics came through and he said you know big report on sock a big fan of soccer very passionate about soccer he said in my working life and in my own life i have a severe rhythm i go from the european championship to the world cup to the european championships the world cup and that's how my lies found out very much and he said yeah. he said this time around i can't generate any enthusiasm for the world cup in russia because of put because it's such an free country what do you say to that kind of every every country was who was hosting the world cup in the last year brazil is south africa where this set of domestic problems in brazil it was a huge protest against a sort conference south africa was. fighting with some domestic problems with adults or russia is not a perfect country germany expecting us to be perfect in germany expecting everyone to have an effect germany. but we are not perfect we are by far not there for country they're stealing money cheating their savior doping in the olympics are not perfect so we are not fitting in this perfect expectation of the german public opinion in pub or german media to deliver a perfect perfect world cup member of u two will be for me as a russian citizen and there will be huge huge. what he says will this area can you enthusiastic about the upcoming cycle world cup oh yeah absolutely it was covered the world cup in germany in the world cup in brazil four years ago and i think it's a great chance to see and learn more about the country i think the world got to see what real germany is like in two thousand and six with the world cup here there was a lot of outdated views of germany in the world at the sea what a friendly smiling country this is helpful people good weather and it was a great tournament and hopefully. will be a great chairman in russia as well and the world will get to learn more about russia away from putin away from politics excuse me it's exactly the point there what happened in germany twelve you're known thirty years ago six it was not about miracle and what company russia two thousand and eighteen is not on the ball but sometimes i have an expression and i knew i didn't say the germans are hypocrites i'm saying that the german public opinion is a kind of obsessed by put him in even if you talk soccer if you even if it took books for soccer there all the baby coming back the pollution. he speaks german he was a k.g.b. agent here there's the obvious fact that yeah they drove it. down to what he said i'm thinking of the russians much more than on the one person russia is so much more than on the pushing yeah i would really like to support that i mean as a russian journalist often reporting about russia for the english language so you agree with a lot of media yet russia as you know it's just putin definitely yeah yeah i'm going to say i mean you really want to you know somebody who has reported on human rights concerns there are massive human rights concerns about russia that have been is this just a sort of a fiction of the west or is this is this the west different is it a poker see once again on the part of the west to focus on gay rights on racism on human rights in general i definitely do not think this is it is hypocritical of the western media to focus on it western public to look at it because it is happening on this huge scale. i mean remember only this year there was this huge scandal with the gay people being murdered in chechnya so. dozens of people gay men in chechnya which is the region in the south of russia in the caucasus. tortured some of them managed to escape some were killed some of them were killed by their own families who were forced to kill them to clean their own or. i have only today actually checked a report by a social scientist in russia who counted that since two thousand and ten that there has been over two hundred murders of. people around russian you know it can move around and it is not perfect and they have a huge huge set of mr problems gay rights human rights criminality you name it but every country in the world to is applying to. be hosting their work on brazilian south africa or whatever it's always something you can talk about criminality in brazil you're talking. you can talk about hiv in south africa there is always something to talk fact remains though that vitale motoko there yeah war has now been banned by the international olympic committee of his role in the systematic doping. that has led to the ban he never let the less remains correct me if it's not true the man effectively in charge of the world cup at the upcoming world cup and he's deputy russian prime minister this is not just this is serious it's huge now and it's as if it's a disaster it's a disaster for russian public it's a disaster for russian government and it's disaster for everyone because of the such high level if you're international organization like i.o.'s saying retiling would call your band it's a disaster no no. certainly a massive stain on the russian world cup i mean who knows maybe he won't be there by the time that the tournament starts but it is it is absolutely big problem and we'll see what happens if he's still there do you expect political process like you know the way that we saw through surf and russert russia last time brazil last time around booed by brazilian soccer fans do you expect that kind of thing to happen in flooded with putin's russia during the world cup it is a very interesting question because as it as we all know the same here is the presidential election so there has already been at least two big protests several actually and russia this year and there will probably be next year as well but the russian state i am not really an expert in brazil so i do not know how vigorously. how vigorous is our place compared to brazil but it was brutal in moscow i remember in june there were i think around a thousand people arrested during a one day is a record there has never been something like that so this intimidation tactic may have worked out and there might be no protests at all i can hardly imagine russian public between vladimir putin on the stadium and i was going to try to move the goal a just to go into. the yeah i think if anybody who know my state. with greater speed. it wasn't nor was the border ok we're drawing to a close i'd like to ask the two russians and the again. about their views on me putin says he welcomes the world coming to russia they're going to see russia for themselves what are they going to take away from them with them in a sentence. i hope they take away something good and. that they see the friendlier more open part of russia and all the. young people in it and you know one sentence russia just so much more than just. ok we'll leave it that russia was so much more than just fortune thank you very much for joining us on quadriga this time we look forward to seeing you again next time around five by interest. we. thank. you chua. imagine the trial. and you can leave your home country. in macedonia it's not all the kids hate me. since kids would go ninety minutes. to children to face our two part documentary almost well a new line in germany fifteen minutes long d.w. . this is a good news come to life somebody and let's go right to our correspondent live in central istanbul i'm joined by the show a couple of interviews political correspondent on those stories in just a minute but first this news just in it's all about the perspective closer d.w. . meet the germans. and surprising aspects of license culture in germany. u.s. american keep take a look at germany dissing chrissy's at their traditions every day lives and language can just come out of my lungs i'm sorry so i'm ok i'm good. trick i d w dot com the germans. are homeless because of persecution in society. starting from scratch in an unfamiliar country five people who found a new home in a foreign land. with their stories books and music they've built bridges to the past and the future. after the escape starting december seventeenth on d w. palestinian militant group hamas has called for a new intifada following us president donald trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital more than thirty people were injured in violent clashes between palestinians and israeli forces in the west bank on thursday the u.n. security council.