“Shameless displays of conceit”

Media reports suggest that Russian footballers Aleksandr Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev shelled out €250,000 for 500 bottles of champagne in a Monte Carlo nightclub, with the bubbly being served to the strains of Russia’s national anthem.

Despite the players’ denials, they’ve both been fined and moved to the youth squads of their respective clubs. Sports Minister Mutko, for his part, has made it clear that Kokorin and Mamayev won’t be playing for their country anytime soon.

Mamaev’s club FC Krasnodar has already issued a statement, calling its player’s behaviour “outrageous and unacceptable.”

The Russian press has been lapping up the story. RT spoke of “rivers of champagne.” Meanwhile, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov branded the footballers’ profligacy a “shameless display of conceit” – and this from a man who has considerable experience of such matters.

Having once proclaimed that “I don’t know how to make money in business, I’ve been working for the state my entire life,” this was the same Peskov who wore a $600,000 Swiss watch to his wedding, and honeymooned on the most expensive yacht in the world (to rent the vessel for a week, the press-secretary would’ve had to shell out three years’ worth of his official salary).

Russian netizens were quick to remind Peskov that he wasn’t exactly averse to living la dolce vita himself. Nor had they forgotten that, just recently, the Kremlin declined to pass comment on a motor rally held by young FSB officers who thought it acceptable to career around central Moscow in identical luxury jeeps: “If the Kremlin branded the footballers’ party a ‘shameless display of conceit,’ why didn’t they speak out against the FSB Academy graduates and their thirty G-wagons?” (Mikhail).

But, needless to say, the Kremlin’s selectiveness in these matters is entirely understandable: FSB personnel, and the ruling elite in general, are kith and kin to Putin on both a social and psychological level, and he therefore lets them get away with virtually any ‘display of conceit’ they can muster.

It was quite some party, as you can see.

But what of it? Kokorin denied the media reports, saying that yes, he and Mamaev were at the party, but had nothing to do with ordering champagne.

“Somebody was celebrating their birthday and we were simply there. Naturally, everybody saw the bottles and heard the Russian anthem, but why put all this on us?” He rightly pointed out that the TWIGA club where the party took place is known for attracting many rich Russians who live or are on holiday in Monaco.

“We had nothing to do with the bills for this party and its entourage. And the money which was mentioned in the media was enough to buy not just the champagne, but the whole place.”

TWIGA club owner and former Formula 1 team manager, Flavio Briatore, confirmed the players’ statements that they had nothing to do with the organisation of the party and never ordered any champagne.

According to Briatore, Kokorin and Mamaev, “came for dinner at TWIGA with their wives. After dinner they stayed in the club to smoke shisha. There was a private party in TWIGA organized by some Russians. They recognized Kokorin and Mamaev and as a sign of respect, as they are fans, they started sending them bottles of champagne and they asked our DJ to play the Russian national anthem. Then other Russian clients also wanted to show their respect and sent the two players other bottles, so Kokorin and Mamaev had the table full of bottles.”

But according to Briatore, the funny thing about the whole incident was that the Russian players “were not even drinking alcohol.”

What is it about footballers and champagne? Or is that even the right question to ask. Why is it that they are the ones to carry the can for losing? The Daily Mail was outraged not when the England team lost at Euro 2016, but at the players drowning their sorrows afterwards.

Dele Alli bottles it… again! England flop receives boatload of champagne delivered by scantily-clad beauties as he parties with Gary Lineker’s brother in Ibiza just days after being knocked out of Euro 2016 

And here’s RT castigating Kokorin and Mamaev.

€250k on champagne in Monte Carlo: Russian players party after Euro 2016 failure

What this incident shows is not so much how irresponsible our footballers are, but our failure (and fear) as Russians to point the finger at the failings of our politicians. The British might be no better than us at football, but they have no such hesitation about kicking out their politicians.

But you know what’s most interesting about these Russian footballers and their champagne? Almost all Russian commentators, at the same time as they are criticising the conduct of our high-living footballing failures, are saying that it could never happen in the West …