Knocking Putin's teams off the sports stage leaves him exposed to ...

FIFA’s decision to suspend Russia from World Cup play and all other soccer competition for the bloody invasion of Ukraine is thus merely remedial, and now it’s the International Olympic Committee’s turn to make up for the unpardonable 2014 Sochi Games, which so encouraged his flexing and strengthened him.FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian squads from soccer competitionsIt’s an open question whether Putin is truly after the restoration of a triumphalist, imperialistic Russian identity in Ukraine, or whether he needs another bloodstained nationalistic surge to cover for the criminality of his regime, or whether he just has come egotistically unmoored. You can thank the IOC for boosting Putin’s flagging domestic approval ratings, which apparently went from 54 percent in 2013 to an all-time high near 90 percent after the Olympics and bolstered his Ukraine strategy.Russia analyst David Satter — the author of the book “The Less You Know, The Better You Sleep” about Putin’s rise and who examined his regime closely for years before he was expelled — believes all of Putin’s wars are strategic attempts to placate Russians for his kleptocracy by “consolidating the population around various military adventures.”Former college basketball standout blamed his Ukrainian pro team for stranding himBarring Russian teams from sports arenas will break through and speak to the Russian population in a uniquely powerful, if regrettable, way. Understand how much sports exhibitions matter to Putin — as long as no one looks too closely.Declarations like FIFA’s will penetrate his total control of the media and cause Russians to look more closely at him.