The , due to the peculiarities of the country that hosts it, presents unusual realities. One of them is the distance between the cities furthest from each other: the more than 3,000 kilometers that separate Yekaterinburg and Kaliningrad. One more detail that makes the second, the westernmost venue of the edition, a special stage.
A simple glance at the map gives food for thought. Kaliningrad appears completely isolated from the rest of the country. This oblast (Russian territorial division similar to the province) is more than 600 kilometers from the nearest Russian border and is wedged between the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Poland. Belarus and Latvia also intrude between the isolated territory and mother Russia.
The explanation, as in almost everything, is given by History. And it is that Kaliningrad ‘only’ adds 73 years under the protection of Russia. After World War II, the USSR annexed this strategically privileged territory to add a new commercial port and spearhead against the West. The conquest of Germany was not only military and economic, but also symbolic: with Kaliningrad, Russia took away a fundamental part of Prussia, the former Könisberg that had given birth to the first Prussian king, Frederick I.
The adoption of the city, ravaged by war, forced Russia to repopulate this enclave…and also to shield it: gateway to the vast Soviet territory, it was consolidated as a naval base and a place to house defensive missiles. This almost unique status was exacerbated when the collapse of the USSR in 1991 left the territory physically isolated: the independence of Lithuania and Belarus closed any land access route to Russia. There began his new situation.
The state of confinement would be seen, in 2004, extended with the entry of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into the European Union. An island in territory, with the exception of the Poles, of the ‘euro zone’. The differences with most of Russia, therefore, are quite remarkable. The proximity to the EU makes Kaliningrad the territory with the greatest European sensitivity…and the Russian part with the least national identity. In addition, communication with the country is not easy as there are other territories in between: citizens even have to request visas to be able to reach the great landmass of Russia, engaged in a very hard pulse for the rearmament of the countries of Northern Europe that risk the military primacy of Vladimir Putin in that part of the world.
A decision with a lot of meaning
For this reason, the World Cup organization’s decision to host Kaliningrad is far from being made lightly. The old Könisberg is, with 467,000 registered, one of the cities with fewer inhabitants (the 40th in number of population; in Spain, for comparison, it is Alcorcón) of the 11 that host World Cup matches. Only Sochi and Saransk host fewer citizens.
In terms of football, the power of Kaliningrad is not significant either: thanks to the World Cup, Russia has given the city a new stadium, the Kaliningrad Arena, with 35,000 seats… for a team from the Russian Second Division, Baltika. An apparently inordinate ‘prize’.
So why give part of the World Cup to a relatively small city, physically separated from the rest of the country and without sports power? The economy appears to the rescue.
The election continues to be a way of reinforcing a region that, located in a strategic location, is growing at a rate higher than the country’s average. Russia invests in a once marginalized area and the change is remarkable: Kaliningrad is one of the economic centers of the nation, a strategic, powerful enclave… in the middle of Europe. A place where Russia is increasing its resources, including the military. The symbolism is used even in football, and thus it is understood, in part, that Kaliningrad is going to be part of the Russian World Cup.
Consolidating the city as one of the most important territories in the country, strengthening Russian nationalism in a region where separatist tensions are beginning to be felt (as much as the Putin administration can allow) and cementing the national position in a physically European place are other factors that explain the name of the city as headquarters.
Of course, for this gift the organization has been prudent: together with Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Volgograd and Saransk, it will only host four World Cup matches, including Morocco-Spain. Fernando Hierro’s team will experience in person what it feels like to set foot in a unique place.
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