US president Donald Trump and the Russian president Vladimir Putin The one -and -a -half -hour call last week, despite the important world political situation, emerged hockey.
According to the Kremlin, Putin suggested to Trump that the US and Russia would face each other in hockey. The match would see the best players from the North American NHL and the Russian KHL League. According to the Kremlin, Trump was positive.
“The first idea was that the very special topics of the gentlemen had time to deal with the one and a half hours, while the Ukrainian war and its termination were those who were actually intended to be discussed,” says the Director of the Parliamentary Research Center Markku Jokisipilä.
As a researcher in political history, Jokisipilä specializes in why sports have been such an important tool for Putin.
He considers it a logical continuation that Putin would have made such a proposal for Trump, as Putin has used sports very systematically since the beginning of his reign.
Jokisipilä considers Putin to seek a setting for the sports fields as in politics. If peace is achieved, Russia will return to international politics, at least as a US -approved party.
A similar return could be expected in sports, as Russia has been mostly outdoors from international sports since February 2022.
“This would be a flamboyant return to the accepted sports community if such a match between the world’s best US and Russian hockey players was successfully organized,” says Jokisipilä.
Of course, the researcher reminds us that ultimately the International Olympic Committee is crucial to the return of Russians. Interestingly, NHL hockey players will return to the Milan-Cortina Olympics next February.
NHL can have its own position in creating pressure. NHL commented on Putin and Trump’s call only briefly by stating that they were not involved in the call, so it would not be appropriate to comment more on this at this stage.
-If the NHL takes the position that it is perfectly ok for them to let NHL club players compete against the Russians, it would put a big pressure on the IOC to make the same decision to other sports and open the way for Russian sports for international playing fields.
Altered attitude
Trump’s attitude towards sports has changed since his first presidential period. In the field of sports, the previous four-year season is mainly remembered for the knees seen in the American football NFL and women’s international football.
Athletes protest the injustice of their actions. This annoyed Trump, and he suggested separating NFL players from his teams.
However, this debate has been left behind, and according to Jokisipilä, Trump has been more traditionally sought to use sports as a continuation of state politics.
– At that time, during the first season, the relationship with sports was rather an antagonist relationship. He criticizes many visible athletes, Jokisipilä recalls.
Trump dance rose to hit
The situation in the NFL is now the opposite. Some players have even fan their performance with “Trump dance”. This Trump swings connected to the Village People’s YMCA song has even become a hit.
– Now it has happened that his certain gestures have been owned as a ventilation tool on the sports field. It seems that at least some of the American professional sports districts at the moment are quite different from what it was during his first presidential period.
Trump has also highlighted his own politics through sports. For example, the President repeated its long -spoken message during the NHL’s four -country tournament that Canada should become the 51st state of the US. He also appointed the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeautawho later spiked Trump after winning the tournament.
Right at the start of his season, Trump, for his part, signed an implementation order to prohibit transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s competitions.
– This was a real political goal he had, for example, in the clock of transmission athletes. He has talked about these things many times and did what he promised during his campaign.
The sports circles should be careful
On the other hand, according to the researcher, Trump is very unpredictable and spontaneous in his speeches. According to Jokisipilä, Trump does not always seem to be planning or preparing his public output for a long time, but may speak at occasions what he thinks.
– At the events, he is ready to grab things that come to mind and starts developing these thoughts forward. He does the same thing about sports. The subject depends on which professional series he has last watched, Jokisipilä sees.
According to Jokisipilä, sports districts should be careful at all when working with politicians. Sports have a positive image, but it can also be stained by the fact that sports are subjected or involved in political influence.
– Obviously, these aspirations are now heavily in the air. It seems that Trump wants to use sports for these purposes. However, sports have more to lose than to win.
In the following years, the United States will be the stage for the whole sports world, with one of the 2026 World Cup in the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles.