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Nicolas Atkin

Vladimir Putin will pose topless for macho photoshoots riding around on a horse, but it seems he can’t handle a bit of a rain.
World Cup final viewers were treated to the sight of the Russian president huddled under a giant umbrella – held up over him by a lackey – during Sunday’s trophy presentation on the pitch, when a deluge poured down on the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of tournament winners France, didn’t care that he was getting soaked to the bone as he congratulated Didier Deschamps’ men.
The 40-year-old Macron nervously paced around and then wildly celebrated in the VIP area as France overpowered Croatia 4-2 in a manic final to claim their second World Cup, 20 years on from the first.

But perhaps even sweeter than watching Les Bleus triumph through goals from stars Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe would have been getting one over on Putin.
“MERCI” read Macron’s simple tweet after the triumph, which no doubt tasted even better coming on Russian soil after Putin’s shenanigans during the 2017 French presidential election.
Fifa World Cup 2018 opening ceremony: Vladimir Putin puts on a shameful party for himself in Russia
Macron’s liberal pro-Europeanism was so detested by Putin that the former KGB spy decided to repeat the trick that worked so well for Russia in the Brexit referendum and US presidential election of 2016.
The Kremlin hackers did their best to undermine Macron, as they did to Hillary Clinton in the US and the Remain camp in Britain, with Putin favouring far right candidate Marine Le Pen, as he continues to try to sow discord in Europe and the West in order to advance Russia’s foreign policy goals.

But Macron saw it coming, laying traps for Russia’s troll farm in the form of fake emails and documents. When these were then released, Putin’s ploy was exposed and failed miserably, with Macron elected president – France 1-0 Russia.
And Macron got a second goal over his Russian counterpart in Moscow, with the French standing tall at the end of what has been a terrific tournament – for no one more than Russia.
Punk band Pussy Riot takes responsibility for World Cup pitch invasion protest
The lowest-ranked team heading into the tournament, Russia were a penalty shoot-out away from reaching the semi-finals, riding a wave of patriotic pride that will have had Putin rubbing his hands with glee.


Off the pitch it was a victory for the Kremlin, too. “Many stereotypes about Russia have simply collapsed,” Putin said, while Fifa president Gianni Infantino called Russia 2018 “the best World Cup ever”.

“We all fell in love with Russia,” Infantino added at a round table with Putin last week. “This is a new image of Russia that we now have.”
He said: “Everyone has discovered a beautiful country, a welcoming country, full of people keen to show to the world what sometimes is said is not what happens here.”
Fifa World Cup final: echoes of Paris as Hong Kong’s French fanzone channels European celebrations a little too much
It’s nothing new, nefarious nations using major sports events to give their image a makeover – diplomatics call it “soft power”, and Human Rights Watch calls it “sportswashing”.
But, as one viral tweet on Russian social media put it, “Freedom is over”. The words, accompanied by a picture of an empty fan zone to mark the end of the tournament, concluded: “Welcome to the real Russia”.

Hardline rules about drinking in public and congregating near Red Square were suddenly – but only temporarily – relaxed for a month, as was Russia’s intolerance of gay rights and other forms of political dissidence.
Police detained hundreds of anti-Putin protesters during rallies in May, but smiled, waved and posed for pictures with visiting fans over the last five weeks.
We now know why Putin fought so hard to bring the World Cup to Russia, and why he spent US$13 billion giving many of the 11 host cities their first facelift since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Worryingly, Fifa have been only too willing to cooperate along the way, even after the corruption scandal that engulfed the governing body in 2015.

Fifa has shown at Russia 2018 it has no moral quibbles with human rights abuses, as long as its bottom line is not affected.
Among the dignitaries up with Macron and Putin in the VIP area were Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, as well as Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, another of Europe’s dictators.
Still, at least Putin and Fifa didn’t get things all their own way. Putin will have loathed the iconic image of Mbappe high-fiving a political protester from punk group Pussy Riot, dressed in a police uniform, who invaded the pitch during the final with three others, all while a massive global audience watched.

The biggest winner of all may just have been Macron, who kissed Mbappe and Griezmann on their foreheads at the medal ceremony, as well as the top of the World Cup trophy before it was presented to France captain Hugo Lloris.
He continued having fun when he joined the French team in their changing room, giving a speech and striking the dab pose while larking about on Snapchat with Paul Pogba and Benjamin Mendy.
For Macron, it was the sweetest of victories, in more than just football terms, and he got to do it all in front of Putin and really rub the Russian president's nose in it.



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Fifa World Cup 2018

Fifa World Cup final: France rain on Vladimir Putin’s parade as Emmanuel Macron gets last laugh at trophy presentation

Fifa president Gianni Infantino, president of Russia Vladimir Putin and president of France Emmanuel Macron during the trophy presentation at the World Cup final. Photo: Reuters

epaselect epa06891156 French President Emmanuel Macron (C) reacts as Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (2-L) watch during the FIFA World Cup 2018 final between France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia, 15 July 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL / POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

Soccer Football - World Cup - Final - France v Croatia - Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia - July 15, 2018 A pitch invader and France's Kylian Mbappe high five REUTERS/Darren Staples

epa06892028 FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic congratulate French team after the FIFA World Cup 2018 final between France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia, 15 July 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL / POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

epa06891799 Russian President Vladimir Putin reacts after the FIFA World Cup 2018 final between France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia, 15 July 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV EDITORIAL USE ONLY EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV EDITORIAL USE ONLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY

TOPSHOT - Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) gives their medals to French players as French President Emmanuel Macron (4thR) embraces France's forward Kylian Mbappe (3rdR) at the end of the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match between France and Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS

epa06891795 Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and FIFA president Gianni Infantino react next to the FIFA World Cup 2018 trophy after the FIFA World Cup 2018 final between France and Croatia in Moscow, Russia, 15 July 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV EDITORIAL USE ONLY EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV EDITORIAL USE ONLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY

A man wearing a facemark of Russian President Vladimir Putin waves after the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Punk band Pussy Riot takes responsibility for World Cup pitch invasion protest

The four people were tackled to the ground by stewards, but not before one shared a high five with a French player in the centre circle

Stewards remove pitch invaders during the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match between France and Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 15, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Odd ANDERSEN / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS

Stewards remove pitch invaders during the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match between France and Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Fifa World Cup 2018 opening ceremony: Vladimir Putin puts on a shameful party for himself in Russia

A projector in a football fan tent in Riyadh shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud gesturing to Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the World Cup opener in Moscow. Photo: AFP

Russian police detane Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, center, as he holds a banner that read "Putin fails to act against Chechnya torture of gay people" near Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 14, 2018. A British LGBT activist has been detained has been detained near the Red Square for holding a one-man protest against Russia's abuse of gays. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) poses with Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela, Panama's first lady Lorena Castillo de Varela and their son at the half-time during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SPUTNIK / Alexey DRUZHININ

epa06808006 Soccer fans celebrate in the FIFA Fan Fest area in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018, after Russia scored a goal in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2018 between Russia and Saudia Arabia. EPA-EFE/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

epa06807792 Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the opening ceremony before the FIFA World Cup 2018 group A preliminary round soccer match between Russia and Saudi Arabia in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

epa06807526 English singer Robbie Williams performs during the opening ceremony prior to the FIFA World Cup 2018 group A preliminary round soccer match between Russia and Saudi Arabia in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018. (RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA-EFE/FELIPE TRUEBA EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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Russian president mocked on social media for umbrella own goal during World Cup trophy presentation as French counterpart enjoys sweetest of victories


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Opinion | Fifa World Cup final: France rain on Vladimir Putin’s parade as Emmanuel Macron gets last laugh at trophy presentation

Russian president mocked on social media for umbrella own goal during World Cup trophy presentation as French counterpart enjoys sweetest of victories