Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: a sporting riddle wrapped in mystery -- 1 The state of play in Russian football -- 2 Security and the spectacle: the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia's "safest city" -- 3 Populist tactics: Ramzan Kadyrov's use of football as a political tool during the 2018 FIFA World Cup -- 4 Increased output legitimacy by hosting mega sport events? The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russian Twitter discourse
5 Sport and domestic "soft power" in Russia: take the skinheads bowling -- 6 The case of Pussy Riot's protest at the World Cup 2018 in Russia: 'the policeman enters the game' -- 7 Football, film, and the Russian state: an unorthodox alliance -- 8 Russian soft power as a result of FIFA 2018 -- 9 Vladimir Putin, Russian foreign policy, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup: making Russia great again -- 10 Global soft power and local effects of the World Cup in Russia, Brazil, and South Africa -- Index
