RUSSIA: Government bans bullfighting

Record ID: 375630

  • Title: RUSSIA: Government bans bullfighting
  • Date: 1st September 2001
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 27, 2001) (REUTERS) BULLFIGHTING POSTER IN CENTRE OF MOSCOW / STREET WITH CHURCH / KREMLIN ANTI-BULLFIGHTING PROTESTORS PERFORMING DANCE AGAINST BULLFIGHTING
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAGGA3ZBVPKX27WUGEVXGCT8RJ
  • Story Text: The Moscow government has banned what was to be the first professional spectator bullfight in Russia, saying that the sport was not in accordance with Russian traditions.
    The torerors had already begun waving their red capes and the bulls had already been hauled into Russia ahead of the performance scheduled for September 8.
    But Moscow's mayor seems to have decided to put a stop to what would have been the first professional corrida perfomance in Russia.
    The mayor's press secretary told Russian news agencies that a ban would be issued because the bullfight ran against Russian traditions and that they disapproved of what they felt was the demonstration of violence.
    The decision followed statements against the bullfight by various public figures and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
    Citizen groups had also rallied against the corrida, each in their own way. Protestors at Moscow's largest vegetarian restaurant danced a symbolic dead bull dance and formed a rare coalition of animal activists, liberal politicians, and pro-Kremlin youth organisations.
    Retired general and prominent Russian environmentalist Evgeny Sosnovski said that he was against the bullfight because it ran against what he thought were Russia's humanitarian traditions.
    But opinion is still divided in a land well-known for fur coats and sausage consumption.
    Muscovites on the streets seemed equally split about whether or not bullfighting should be allowed.
    And though a series of organised protests has been held against the corrida performance, the organisers claim they had already sold 10,000 tickets.
    Organiser Andrei Agapov said that backers stand to lose nearly one million U.S. dollars if they do receive an official injunction against the match. He vows that he will dispute any ban through the courts and criticises the decision as "wrong and anti-democratic."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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