In Britain, struck by the act of Robbie Williams, speaking at the opening of the World Cup in Russia. In the eyes of many, this is almost a betrayal, the transition to the side of a dangerous and treacherous enemy at the time of the most acute conflict between the two states. Consciously or stupidly the popular singer helped Vladimir Putin's PR campaign, the newspaper asks, but no one is sure of the answer. Williams could not help but know that after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter British officials and members of the royal family refused to go to the tournament in Moscow, - writes Andrei Ostalsky in the column on "Radio Liberty".

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the idea of ??appearing in the Russian stadium in such a situation "sickening," and many parliamentarians agreed with him, not only from the ruling conservative party, but also from the opposition. Businessman Bill Browder, expelled from Russia for exposing corruption, believes that the favorite of millions "sold his soul to the dictator". "You should be ashamed," he said, giving the singer "greetings from Sergei Magnitsky, Anna Politkovskaya, Natalia Estemirova, the dead passengers of MH17 flight and thousands of killed Ukrainian soldiers".

Labor MP John Woodcock condemned Williams' act, saying: "We all would like to support the England team, but Robbie made a great PR-gift outcast with bandit inclinations, just a few months after the use of chemical weapons by Russia on English soil". Another well-known local politician Stephen Doty thinks "an unpleasant surprise ... that such a wonderful British artist, who previously supported the campaign for the protection of human rights and sexual minorities, agreed to sing at the opening of the championship in the country ... which bombs civilians in Syria, persecutes minorities in Chechnya and other places , poison people in the streets of cities and try to undermine our democracy ".

A lot of newspaper space and minutes of the ether are devoted to and solving another riddle of Robbie Williams: what did the singer mean by showing the average finger of the left hand to about a billion viewers around the world? This indecent gesture in many countries is equated with an obscene insult and can even be considered a criminal offense. One explanation boils down to the fact that in this way, Williams refuted the information that for his performance in the Luzhniki he was paid almost a million. He even put in the lyrics of his song the words "I did it for free".

The second version is: Williams "sent far away" and human rights activists, and "reporters without borders," and British politicians, along with Bill Browder, showing that his reputation does not bother him at all. This explanation can be considered an outright mockery: allegedly Williams with the help of this gesture indicated that before the start of the first match of the championship there was one minute. And he added: "There is a bloc between me and the thinker. Something happens, and in five minutes I ask myself: did I just do it? ".

However, many believe that Williams only pretends to be crazy and frostbitten. Rather, we can assume a cold and cynical calculation: English fans, many of whom are fans of the singer, do not care about politics, at the moment they are only interested in football and the performance of their team. Boulevard newspapers remind that Williams has long been "fed" by Russian oligarchs and gets really millions for singing at their private parties. Thanks to his "contract with the devil," he can now count on the fact that this cash flow will not be scanty.

The whole episode is important only because it highlighted the main and insoluble contradiction in relation to the British society for the World Cup in Russia. On the one hand, it is an aversion to Putin's actions, aggravated by the widespread opinion that Russia bribed corrupt FIFA officials and thus "stole" the championship from Britain. Plus, general indignation over the savage reprisal of Russian "ultra" over the English fans in Marseilles during the last European Championship.

But on the other - fans are therefore called fans, that are fascinated by the game of their team to complete blinding. At the moment, it is important only who scored, who missed, who gave what pass, what result the players in the game. Everything else ceases to exist. The UK government would be pleased to call on the national team to join the state boycott of the championship, but it did not dare, realizing that this is fraught with serious political losses.

Many these days are quoted by the columnist of the newspaper The Guardian, Nick Cohen, who wrote: "Razvorovyvanie Russian economy, the destruction of civil aircraft, the murder of journalists - powerful arguments in favor of a boycott of this circus. But they fade under the views of the fans, who are looking for their favorite team ". And further: "If you want to imagine how you would react to the Hitler's Olympics in 1936, think about how you are reacting to the Putin World Cup 2018, and you will learn something about yourself and about the sport".

Passionate football fans are by nature not inclined to reflect. In a sense, sport is not just outside politics, it's politics and even morals, and common sense is trampled on. But is it precisely whether it is about sports in its pure form or is it something else? The Times columnist Dominic Lawson caused a storm in the press and social networks about his own, as he himself admits, very limited impressions of the presence in the stands among the avid fans. According to his feeling, there is an atmosphere of not passionate love, but passionate hatred. The author is amazed that people pay a lot of money for this pleasure - the opportunity to "erupt a continuous stream of insults and rage".

Lawson also cites statistical data according to which the number of heart attacks, cases of drunken driving, domestic violence and even suicide increases significantly during the World Cups. "In this case, it turns out that we need to desire the victory of the England team if we want a smaller number of English wives to be beaten up by malicious, drunk, football-obsessed husbands". But, on the other hand, "if we strive to save as many women lives as possible, we must rely on the triumph of the Russian national team, especially given that Putin last year approved the Duma's law that decriminalizes family violence". "If you think about it, it turns out that Putin and the World Cup are worth each other," concludes the commentator.

Not surprisingly, these arguments provoked a furious condemnation of football fans. They found them slander and a manifestation of intellectual arrogance - a kind of "middle finger", shown to them by snobs. But satirist commentator Rod Liddle, leading a tireless struggle against any manifestations of political correctness in the pages of the same The Times, usually gets away with it.

Here's what portrait of an English football fan he painted: "This is a huge piece of meat with a shaved head, a bare chest, breasts that would honor Kim Kardashian, with a bad smell coming out of his mouth, capable of stunning the ermine at a distance of 50 paces, and with Hitler's tattoo on scrotum ". "Do the Russian authorities really believe that Natalia is able to bite on such gentlemen?" - asks Rod Liddle, rhetorically, recalling the statement of the chairman of the Duma Committee on Women's Affairs Tamara Pletneva on the need to avoid sexual contacts with foreigners.

But in other reports there is not so caricature of the image of a British fan - he looks quite sane, even a benevolent lover of the "beautiful game". And it seems that the Russian authorities have made extraordinary efforts to make a favorable impression on foreigners. With rare exceptions, they seem to succeed in this. But what happens after the championship is over and the guests leave for home? The Economist recalls the criminal case and the "far-fetched charges of corruption" brought against director Cyril Serebrennikov, about the arrest of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, about the long prison term for which "on a trumped-up charge of terrorism" was sentenced to film director Oleg Sentsov, who went on a hunger strike with demand to release Ukrainian political prisoners. "All of them will remain in the same position, when the fans will leave. "Beautiful game" can only give a short respite from an ugly reality, "- concludes the magazine.

What does the average representative of the British middle class think about all this? My neighbor's lawyer Jonathan said: "The decision to hold a championship in Russia was a mistake, but since it happened, then let it be so. Would I go to Moscow? Yes, if I was a football player, and absolutely not - if I was a singer ". It is possible that my neighbor is right.

Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Join also the TSN group. Blogs on facebook and follow the updates of the section!.