The captain of the hockey club «Washington capitals» and the striker of the national Team of Russia on hockey Alexander Ovechkin created a civil initiative called the Putin Team.
As reported by the NY Times, Ovi or Alexander the Great ( Ovechkin so called in America), became one of the most successful hockey players in the United States, scoring the goals for the team, which has long sought championship. Yes, and the 32-year-old hockey player, having played for more than 10 years for the us team, called the U.S. their second home, but… don’t forget about the first.
Not so long ago, Ovechkin announced the creation of a public organization Putin Team, which will lead it personally. On the page Intragame he said that he always respected the President of his country and his filled with pride due to the organization of such initiatives.
«Today I want to announce that creating a public movement called Putin Team. To be part of this team is my pride, it’s like the feeling when you wear a t-shirt of the Russian team, knowing that hurts the whole country,» said Ovechkin.
It is worth noting that the star hockey player is with Putin in a very warm relationship. The proof of this was the gift of the President of the Russian Federation for last year’s wedding celebration is a premium tea set.
But as much as Ovechkin did not insist on his selfless patriotism, many Russian experts believe that this is a good PR move in light of the upcoming elections in presidents of the Russian Federation, which are scheduled for 2018.
Despite the fact that Putin has not yet announced his candidacy, support for popular athletes is never superfluous to increase the number of supporters in the country and abroad.
A specialist in the field of political technologies, Yevgeny Minchenkobelieves that the movement under the leadership of the organization is to help in the fight against the «myths that Putin is not popular and his approval rating is too high». And the data of the national survey confirm that the idea was indeed a good – 67% of Russians responded positively to the initiative of the compatriot.
The founder of RMNB hockey blog Ian Oland stressed that many American fans Ovechkin a blind eye to the manifestation of his Patriotic feelings: «I think a lot of people are trying to abstract from this and focus on the hockey part of Ovi».
It is unknown what exactly will be the activities of the Putin Team and what all will be the role of the hockey stars. But judging by the fact that the Russian athletes who have retired, I often find myself in politics, Ovechkin’s career and in this field is guaranteed.
