俄異議人士：抵制在俄舉辦足球世界盃是個“巨大的錯誤”
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oil tycoon-turned-Kremlin foe who spent a decade in prison and now lives in exile, says fellow Kremlin critics should not boycott the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, slated to kick off June 14 in Russia.
Russian aggression abroad, along with domestic human rights violations, have "obviously caused a serious split, both inside Russian society and in the West," said Khodorkovsky.
"There are thoughts about boycotting it, and thoughts about just turning a blind eye to everything happening in Russia during the event. But I think that boycotting the championship would be a big mistake if you think about teams going to Russia, and people and fans visiting the country," he said.
On the other hand, Khodorkovsky added, "I do believe Western leaders would be making a mistake if they were to visit the man who has created a fully authoritarian regime and has surrounded himself with a criminal clique."
"This would be a mistake, because it would be seen as encouragement, and Putin should not be encouraged," he said. "Therefore, there should be a very clear stance: 'Yes, we are visiting the Russian society, but we are not visiting the Kremlin criminal clique.'"
Human Rights Watch recently called on world leaders to boycott the tournament's opening ceremony unless Russian President Vladimir Putin takes steps to protect Syrian civilians.
Russia, which hosts the World Cup for the first time this year, is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's seven-year war, and the New York-based watchdog argued that Moscow's responsibility in the suffering of Syrian civilians should not be overlooked.曾是俄羅斯石油大亨後來成爲克里姆林宮批評者的霍多爾科夫斯基說，和他一樣對俄羅斯政府持批評立場的人不應該抵制定於6月14號在俄羅斯開始的2018年足球世界盃比賽。霍多爾科夫斯基曾在監獄服刑10年，目前流亡在海外。
霍多爾科夫斯基說，俄羅斯在世界上咄咄逼人的行爲以及在國內對人權的侵犯自然在俄羅斯社會內以及在西方國家導致人們對它看法的嚴重分歧。
霍多爾科夫斯基說：“有人想抵制，有人認爲在足球世界盃舉行期間應該對俄羅斯發生的一切都不關心。但是我認爲，抵制足球世界盃將是一個嚴重錯誤，因爲你要考慮到，前來俄羅斯的外國足球隊以及世界各國的訪客和粉絲。
不過他也補充說，如果西方國家領導人會見那個建立了完全獨裁的政權並在他自己周圍安放了一個犯罪集團的人，那也將是一個嚴重錯誤。
人權觀察最近呼籲世界各國領導人抵制足球世界盃的開幕式，除非俄羅斯總統普京採取保護敘利亞平民的措施。
今年將第一次主辦足球世界盃的俄羅斯是敘利亞總統阿薩德的關鍵支持者。敘利亞的內戰已經進行了7年。人權觀察說，絕不能對莫斯科對敘利亞平民遭受苦難應承擔的責任熟視無睹。
