Football's Shameful Role In The Rise Of Vladimir Putin
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- Опубликовано: 3 мар 2022
- Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian teams have been banned from all FIFA and UEFA club and international competitions.
It might seem like the logical step to punish a nation that has waged a war of aggression against a democratic country, but world football cannot wash its hands when it comes to the actions of Vladimir Putin and the rise of the Russian president.
In this documentary, HITC Sevens examines how Vladimir Putin, along with his allies and oligarchs such as Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, were able to manipulate football with so little opposition, and why other despots and dictators are likely to do the same in the future. 
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Alfie is truly a gem with the level of research he does. FD can only dream of coming anywhere near this level of quality with their deep dive videos that are usually as shallow as a kiddie pool
Couldn’t put it better, really have to appreciate the mini documentaries he gives us
Pardon my ignorance but I don't know what FD is. I have to agree completely about this channel though. Alfie's perspective, informed by his research and thoughtfulness, brings light to the current situation in football and makes sure a broader picture is seen. It's not just sport, it's big business. Alfie's given us some good ones, but this was another level of hot fire.
@@adameden8722 completely agree. As for what FD is I’ll try not to be vulgar and say it straight out and rather mention them obliquely as a channel about Football that puts out content on a Daily basis
@@adameden8722
ruclips.net/user/thefootballdaily
not this time! how can you talk about russia world cup 2018 and not to say a single word about Syrian war crimes from russia? will i think one million Syrian victims and 12 million refuges don't deserve the attention!
To expand on the situation for us, common Russians: the state has just introduced a law that sends you to prison for 15 years if you are found guilty of spreading "fakes" related to the actions of the Russian military.
Taking part in anti-war protests announced by the Navalny team (who have been announced terrotist and extrimist by the state) now also equates to support of terrorism and extrimism as per the new law.
The last three online-based independent media channels were banned yesterday.
The non-profit organizations helping those detained and arrested at protests have been labeled as "foreign funded entities".
All the while the 1% of Russian citizens own 90% of Russian wealth.
Solidarity, VK. Whilst obviously the biggest crisis is happening in Ukraine, it is devastating to see how ordinary Russians are being punished and plunged into even greater hardship because of the decisions of a man they cannot even democratically deselect.
I feel for you guys. Courage... That's not how things should work in a democratical state. I guess it's easy nowadays to bypass democracy while being regarded as a democracy/democratic country.
So, what has he done wrong?
If million of russians Come together and protest, surely something must change?
@@HITCSevens I think as well that most people (if not all) see this as Putin (or Putler, as he's called given comparisons to Nazis in Russia is one of the biggest derogatory things you can do to someone) against Ukraine. No one that I've spoken to, even online, sees this as Russia's war. It's Putler's, and the sooner his generals grow some balls and throw him out the better for all concerned. Solidarity VK.
Really appreciate you covering these difficult topics Alfie.
not this time! how can you talk about russia world cup 2018 and not to say a single word about Syrian war crimes from russia? will i think one million Syrian victims and 12 million refuges don't deserve the attention!
Best football channel on YT. Your takes are always well-reasoned and I am glad that there is someone with a prominent platform bringing conversations of spotswashing, corruption, and ethics to football fans around the world.
but he's years late. Also he really doesn't have an idea of the history of this
not this time! how can you talk about russia world cup 2018 and not to say a single word about Syrian war crimes from russia? will i think one million Syrian victims and 12 million refuges don't deserve the attention!
Thank you Alfie, especially with the way you explained how sponsors can give a team an incredle leg up. Nearly all of those team mentions in the same breath of Gazprom have benefited from this and people don't realise why having an unlimited source while other don't is bad for the whole game until its there team that doesn't have the chance to be seen. I hope this whole thing changes this weird love for teams like man City and Newcastle just because they will shake things up lol. Just imagine where the Premier league would be without City and Chelsea?
Without Man City and Chelsea? Well before them we had teams like Blackburn, Leeds and Norwich challenging for the title
Exactly that's the point. Many yema would have been on an even play field that would have lead to more competition within the game.
@@micahkiyimba8641 not really. We had Man U dominate for nearly 20 years with the odd team popping up until arsenal contended for a brief time but still was mostly United for year after year.
@@chiggsytube that’s the whole point there is definitely no level playing field if one team can hire 20 high cost lawyers to defend them against FFP when others one league below them are going into administration. Football is at its most uneven in years and because two clubs with literally state sponsored money (now a third with Newcastle) are winning things that to you is some how is evening the playing field?
he has no idea what he's talking about
Please do a video on the fall of AJ Auxerre. They spent 32 straight years in the top flight of France from 1980 to 2012. 1996 French champions and 1992 European Cup semifinals (where they beat Ajax on the way). They were in the UCL GS just in 2011 and produced the likes of Cantona and Djibril Cisse. But now they’ve been stuck in Ligue 2 for nearly 10 years now.
1993* and lost to Borussia Dortmund on pens in the semis, but yeah would be a great video
Cantona and Djibril Cisse are on pretty disparate levels tbh
@@willywonka7812 sure he's no big Djib but Cantona wasnt without skill😅😂
@@willywonka7812
*They're both French* and they're both familiar to Premier League viewers. One could make the argument that Cantona had the better career, winning four Premier League titles in his final five years. At Liverpool Cissé won a Champions League but also broke both his legs, closing out his career as a journeyman at Marseille, Sunderland, and Queens Park Rangers.
Good news, they are back in Ligue 1 now
28:46 Never forget that Henrikh Mkhitaryan didn't play in the 2019 Europa League final because his safety would not be guaranteed. If a player can possibly end up in that situation, that country shouldn't be allowed to host any sporting competition. Period. End of sentence.
Edit: Never mind, Alfie just said what I stated here.
Edit 2: Oh, and don't think I didn't see that mealy-mouthed statement from the Azerbaijani officials saying how "They're disappointed that he came to such a decision." Kiss my 🍑.
Always with the interesting angle no one else is talking about. Best football channel on YT👌
That Brokeback Mountain bit was hilarious. Good job!
This is simply masterful journalism. There's no other way to put this. Thank you so much for your spectacular work, Alfie.
disagree! not a single time talk about Syria? i mean yeas making a world club while you are helping killing a million Syrians and force 12 to leave their homes is minor fact?
Great video, not afraid to tell the uncomfortable truths as ever. I'm not a huge football fan but videos like these are important to tell the outside world ignorant to the dodgy dealings inside sport.
Where are all the "keep politics out of football" merchants now?
Where there is money, there is politics
The thing is what seems politics for one doesn't mean politics for other. That's how it goes
Lalit Thapa most of them are down at the Ukraine embassy trying to sign up for the war 😂😂😂
Only fascists who take offence at the existence of the lower class say "Get politics out if sports !"
@@willywonka7812 I am working class, you simpleton. Sports aren't supposed to be political. If you want your daily dose of propaganda, watch the "news".
I remember when, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Putin said; "People still see us as cold war Russia, but we're not that anymore". Two weeks later, he invaded Crimea.
You aren't very informed. "The 2019 survey found that 82% of Crimea's population supported Crimea's accession to Russia, as opposed to 86% in 2014. The survey also found that 58% of Crimean Tatars now supported Crimea's accession to Russia, as opposed to 39% in 2014."
Part of the reason for Russia invading Ukraine is because Ukraine doesn't give Crimea Water, they control the water supply to Crimea and would limit the amount they got, to only a couple hours a day.
@@Jules7777 who conducted the survey ?
@@starforce1003 An independent Russian organsiation that did the survey twice. They were asked to do it again by US peoples.
and just take a look for yourself, most people in Crimea are decendents of Russians and I can't find anything negative from Crimea towards Russia.
Also Crimea used to belong to Russia before Russia transferred it over from the USSR to the Ukrainian USSR. (I believe)
@@Jules7777 could you provide a link to this independent survey please.
Putin has been in charge of Russia since 1999... why wait 15 years before invading such an important piece of land such as the Crimean peninsula? maybe because a US backed coup in February 2014 toppled the democratically elected Yanukovych government in Ukraine and installed a pro-US, anti-Russian, virulent far right regime in a country on Russia's doorstep AFTER Russia had said for years that any move by the West, by NATO, into Ukraine would be an EXISTENTIAL threat to the Russian Federation... this crisis, this war, has been brewing for 25 years since the US decided to start expanding NATO to the very borders of Russia... the superficiality and unaccountability of Western thinking is breathtaking
I know there’s no way anyone who’s made billions made it ethically but I really hope this pushes the Premier League to really look at the effectiveness of the fit and proper persons rule. It’s pretty shameful that this is what’s pushed Abramovich out when he barely cracks the top 3 evil owners
The Premier League is all about money, nothing more than that. There is about zero chance they will undertake any kind of reform.
@@LordZontar it’s because the sport doesn’t make a lot of money compared to other a lot of sports
No defence of Russia's actions in Ukraine but if Abramovich is essentially forced out of Chelsea as a result then surely the Saudi consortium that recently brought Newcastle should be forced to relinquish their control of the club as they are key enablers of a regime that is also committing gross war crimes in Yemen and is guilty of horrendous human rights violations. Yes Putin is a bad guy. Yes there does need to be an inquiry into Russian oligarchs and their influence in sports, but the same should be true for all countries where widespread corruption and human rights issues are prevalent. Punishing one but turning a blind eye to others is rank hypocrisy.
@@parker-ii7fg I think you’re missing the key detail that Abramovich has ties to someone killing Europeans, not to mention the British government selling weapons to said Saudi’s. Can never expect the premier league to have more morals than the govt
@@BigPurp9 The fact we have an upcoming World Cup in Qatar even after all the evidence of bribery, corruption, human rights violations and migrant deaths just shows how deep the rot is at the hierarchy of elite football.
while i was watching this i heard the news of shane warnes passing. many football fans wont be aware of who he is, however its still a massive loss for the sports community. R.I.P shane!
Just wanted to say thank you Alfie for all your content over the last couple of years that I've been on and off following. I've really enjoyed both your light entertainment and your serious social and political commentary on football.
Alfie Can you do a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now.
The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore.
How they were very close to moving to ireland
How they went up the English football leagues.
It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel
Hi Alfie, could you do a video on the extent of General Franco’s influence during the Real Madrid golden era from 1956-1960? We all know he made sure Madrid won, so are there grounds to remove these titles from Real?
No because he supported Atletico madrid until real Madrid proved to be the better team team then he switch. This is well known
It should be analyzed in a bigger context than those years, since initially Franco’s regime actually harmed Real Madrid while they were having a good generation in the 1930’s. In fact, Real Madrid’s worst ever title drought and period in general came to be because of Franco’s decisions. Barca ain’t clean in this either, Franco’s governement helped pay off the Camp Nou, the club’s debt and negotiate the transfer of Kubala who became once of their most important players during that period. Franco also got added to Barcelona’s honorary members for some time.
While Real still turned out to be the most benefitted club during Franco’s reign later down the line, it’s not as simple as some present it to be. Kinda funny that Franco reportedly liked Atlético the most too.
Something more topical and poignant right now would be for Alfie to investigate some of the shady dealings that Florentino Pérez has been involved in, both in the larger european scale and just within Spain also. I say this because you only hear about those if you’re from Spain or are really into the whole culture and context of LaLiga, as Pérez’s shady stuff is rarely heard even in other spañish speaking countries, much less in the anglosphere. I would recommend doing it too since Florentino is probably the most popular and defended football president by clueless or morally bankrupt fanatics, even more so than Abramovich.
@HITC Sevens Hope you read my comments in case you do end up making a video on either of these topics.
Outstanding video as always Alfie. Touching on so many points in a (relatively) short video whilst making it relatable to all football fans who follow your channel is really impressive 👏
Thank you alfie for tackling these topics
Amazing video like always
I’d have to say I definitely fell hook line and sinker for all that Abramovich chatter from Sky and Talksport etc, cracking video as always
Jesus Christ! So many disturbing facts... But that's some brilliant journalism. Making these relationships, problems and injusticies known is so important. I said a few weeks ago that I admire you for your knowledge and passion about the sport... Forget that. I admire you -full stop. I wish there never was such baseness and vice rooted deep inside the human nature, and that concequently you would never have to speak about these things, but as things stand, I want to thank you for your effort in researching and presenting us with these information. And I feel very sad that I had to learn about Yemen from a YT channel, which I follow for football stuff, while proper tv channels and news shows have not uttered a single word regarding these incidents. Again, thank God there are people like you who actually respect the importance of proper journalism and their goal is to communicate the truth to the masses, and that too on significant matters rather than on whether this celebrity is dating with that athlete and so on... Thank you!
Good research Alfie 😊
Thank you for the timely, sharp and truthful content
Great video Alfie! Been waiting for this video for a week now; explaining the damming truths yet again!
don't think there's a channel on yt that comes close to this in its research and explanation of the influence and importance of football and sport more generally upon world politics. another fantastic video on such a serious topic
Love how consistent you are
To further clarify how important Sochi was for Putin, his approval ratings went from around 54% prior to those olympics to around 80%, a three year high, toward the end of those olympics (Russia overperformed massively due to a state sponsored doping program). The Sochi olympics ended on the 23rd Feb 2014, the invasion of Crimea began on the 20th Feb 2014. Putins approval ratings hit an all time in June that year and the Russian public ate up Putins propaganda, for instance “66% believe that western sanctions are meant to humiliate and weaken Russia, and only 5% think they are about ending the conflict in Ukraine. Some 70% of Russians believe the country should stick to its current position on Ukraine, while 20% say it would be better to make concessions in order to avoid sanctions. 87% support the annexation of Crimea, and only 4% think that the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk should return to their pre-conflict status.”. All of these figures were taken from Russian polling companies so take them with a pinch of salt but it’s pretty clear what his intentions for Sochi were.
Also the same for China hosting the Beijing 2022 Olympics. Absolutely shameful that these corrupt sporting organizations allow countries committing human rights crimes and outright GENOCIDE against its people to host these major sporting events.
Take those with a pinch of salt, remember it’s Russia, it’s way more likely all those statistics are fake and try to make the Russian people look like they support Putin
You really believe those statistics lol
People who say keep sports out of politics are the lowest common denominator and dont uderstand how life works
This was awesome! Great stuff Alfie! 👍🏻🖖✊
You are turning into a legend, Alfie.
Keep it up mate: awesome work 🙏
I've been watching this channel for a long time and I'm constantly amazed at the quality and depth of these videos!
Been waiting for this
Thank you for making this video!
I was waiting for this.
Love these tyoes of videos, always well researched 👏👏
Love your stuff Alfie you don’t miss out on anything.
Alfie this is one of, if not, your best ever video.
One of the best videos you have made. I do now see them in a different light
Fantastic analysis of the true depth of corruption within fifa.
This is some top notch quality stuff. Brilliant 👍👏👏
Really like the honesty of your presentations . Well researched .
this is an absolutely fantastic and necessary video. beautiful work. really.
brilliant video Alfie!
Absolutely fantastic piece of work as usual
Another masterpiece by Alfie.
Why was there zero outrage for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics? Considering China's human rights violations I'd say FIFA's stance on the Ukrainian conflict is based on hypocrisy. Why was North Korea allowed to compete in the 2010 World Cup? The fact that FIFA isn't banning China Men's National Football Team from World Cup Qualifiers is also hypocritical.
Beautiful video Alfie, it is sad and disgusting how FIFA has played with so many people in regards to football's use in society and even betrayed their own precedents. It is unbelievable that an organization that always claims that the sport is for everyone goes out of its way to excuse exclusion on its own sport. The only current difference between Qatar and Russia is that FIFA still has money to take out from Qatar. It is unbelievable that FIFA has not learned from their past mistakes nor that anybody has made them accountable for them (I am looking at Chile when the Soviet Union refused to travel there for the 1974 World Cup Playoff). FIFA is even worse than most corrupt countries in that they put on a show that everyone buys and refuses to let go, and politicians manage to hush some of the scrutinies, FIFA embraces it and acts like a lost child. I hope some organism or some sort of responsibility comes soon for FIFA, even if it dooms the sport as we know it today. Besides that, I wanna applaud Leagues like the Spanish and the German, who, even with these sorts of sponsors and owners, have gone to larger distances to keep them accountable and in check. I hope football becomes clean again, and that it returns to being a business about joy, transparency, and unity, and not just a dumb, repeated, and boring message that they said over and over again.
At first I had my doubt about this video, but in the end you did a great job. Congrats !!
lovely stuff alfie - innovating everywhere u can, even in the pronounciation of dossier xoxo
Best video you've done, beautiful job!
Awesome video!!!
Great video Alfie, research is incredible. If we stop any country involved in corruption, human rights abuses or illegal invasions from hosting the world cup, I'm struggling to see where we will hold it though, maybe it can rotate between Finland and New Zealand on a permanent basis🤣😂
Hahaha true. There's no place on earth that was not conquered through bloodshed.
I think we can all agree sports washing it bad and that it grew in prevalence when Roman came in but its been about for a long time. Footballs structures need to be changed to fix not only the unscrupulous but to preserve competition
The Romans knew all about the importance of food and circuses in maintaining a subjugated population.
Sports washing has always existed since the Olympics in Nazi Germany and has always worked for a long time. The 2018 World Cup made most of us forget about the 2014 invasion of Ukraine which is proof that Sportswashing sadly works. Football has never been moral which sucks but the best we can do is that human right violaters dont take a step in sport.
I've been waiting for this one
Why? Do you wait for every dumb, random video that comes out? You only have to read the title to see it's propaganda!
@@thatsjustnotfair5888 how the fuck is this propaganda, it’s facts!
@@bakangholden1440 Football's role in the rise of Vladimir Putin. That's unbiased, meaning not laden with propaganda. Football's SHAMEFUL role in the rise of Vladimir Putin. That is terrorist propaganda at it's finest. Telling us who we should give our support to and who we shouldn't before we even watch the video. Leaders don't pay the media to lie for nothing. They pay them to lie because they also, get paid to lie, and so the pyramid goes up and on to the richrst 1% in the world who own 99% of the wealth in the world. The entire world's population are in a system designed for the sole purpose of eliminating human competition altogether. That 1% will never, ever part with that 99% wealth. They have tortured and genocided countless generations already to keep that wealth. They don't care about you. They don't care about me and they sure as hell don't care about the environment. That is just another tactic of control so you obey them.
@@thatsjustnotfair5888 it's hsrd to beleve that you're so gullible t9 believe that Putin-esque Fascism is opposed to capitalist exploitation. C'mon now, you're not that dumb
Which leaders are supposed to have paid me? Because I'm still waiting on that cheque, and with energy bills rising, I could really do with it right about now.
Great video, thanks
Best documentary yet Alfie. More shade needs throwing on the media and fifa/uefa and it ain’t going to happen in mainstream media
Insightful content 👌🏽
Awesome Alfie for doing my video suggestion. XD
I think everyone suggested it. Also it was going to come anyways
Already know this is going to be great 🔥
That was excellent, great journalism.
When Abramovich took over Chelsea, I emailed Graham Beecroft at TalkSport during the programme he was on as he was discussing this pointing out how Abramovich made his money through corrupt privatisations and questioning whether we should be welcoming his money into the game. Beecroft said on air that he didn't want t get into the politics. I've since emailed him asking, how about now, Graham? I don't expect to get a reply obviously - but the point is that certain sections of the media were only too happy to act as Abramovich's cheerleaders at the time.
Alfie, you should be celebrated as one of the greatest football journalists ever. Brilliant piece.
not this time! how can you talk about russia world cup 2018 and not to say a single word about Syrian war crimes from russia? will i think one million Syrian victims and 12 million refuges don't deserve the attention!
this is what i subscribe for! great video
This video is a must watch again and again & again.
One of your best videos!
Alfie brilliant as ever
_enjoy_ is not the right word but quality work as always sir.
Brilliant mate !! Well said
One day Alfie will be gone and we will never know which murderous dictator finally watched his videos
Good video bro , very informative
Thank you for this great video.
Gary nevile kind of addressed the fact we shouldn't allow clubs to be sold to foreign dictatorships and said the argument that we can change their mindset by allowing them in but it obviously doesn't work.football needs to be cleaned up
Lmao yeah I remember he said that, but ask him now if these state backed clubs have done anything to reform and he would go silent.
That was so great. Wow. Well done
Alfie never misses wasn’t expecting this
Alfie, you are one brave man, and for that hats off to you and hopefully no Russian higher ups watches this, still need Alfie to tell me more about an African club owner which is corrupted and somehow link with Pablo Escobar.
EddieHowe, keep it up Alfie
Its impossible get politics out of sports. Just like its impossible to be completely apolitical. Thats how it is. Thus fools who keep calling 'keep politics out of sport' are either ignorant or have some other, hidden motives.
When people say get politics out if sports I think they mean they want consistency like if your gonna ban Russia how about all the other countries like USA, isreal, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia or Burma I could keep naming countries that have been responsible for thousands of death and humsn rights abuses but why is fifa acting now when you can look around the world right now and theres other countries just as bad if not worse than Russia
Only political extremists brings politics into sports. Clear them out!
@@SeanyMack Sport brings money and popularity and thus it by itself is a soft power. You don't need to be extremist to be willing to use it.
@@SeanyMack yeah, because wanting countries to uphold the Olympic Truce of not being at war with each other really is extremist behaviour, isn't it?
@@ethandalton6480 That viewpoint is elementary and misleading, typical extremist rhetoric to normalize and corrupt.
31:21 I genuinely spat out me brew at that lol!
nice work
Well done for a well researched and truthful report on what everyone has known in their heart of hearts for years - but was suppressed by fans love of the game.
Nevertheless you seem to have attracted the usual number of Putinists and looneys who refuse to accept that sport is not in some vacuum.
Please ignore them and keep making these insights into the dark side of football.
Arguably the best video from HITC Sevens in 2022 so far.
one of the most important videos in sportswashing I think will ever be made
Wow. You blow me away every time, Alfie. Let's hope you can do it again with that sub-Saharan Africa-based Best XI!
👏Well done Alfie!
Alfie I am very pleased that you pulled no punches.
Never change Alfie. Side note: For the Chelsea sale, he said "net proceeds" not proceeds. Before you get to "net proceeds" you take out taxes as well as whatever expenses you may have incurred (or just felt like calling an expense), sale bonuses, and random fluff before you get to the net number. LSS its a good way to end up donating very little while fulfilling your promise
Why you can’t exactly donate the proceeds, all of those things have to be paid
Didn’t know how you’d speak about the recent Russian and Ukraine war without being “too political”. You never cease to amaze me Alfie, my RUclips football GOAT.
Very good video
The lack of real moral backbone from sporting government bodies is extremely disappointing. It seems like they have the power to genuinely stand for human rights (for example by revoking Qatar’s hosting rights) whilst also not having quite enough legitimacy to have seriously increase tensions with the leaders that they piss off. Sport is at a really good middle ground for influence on people and power to bring about change and I suppose I’m not surprised that the first to figure that out have abused and exploited it through sport washing. I’d love to see any examples of supporter-run clubs/organisations using their influence in a good way, and if Alfie can find any I’d love to see a video focussing on how football can be used for good.
2014 Sochi Olympics, 2018 Russia World Cup, 2022 Beijing Olympics, 2022 Qatar World Cup... These sporting government bodies are absolutely shameless pieces of shit
@@LuigiLuigi728 You can add the 1936 Olympics, the 1962 and 78 World Cup.
Great video
Fantastic video laying the dirty facts many choose to ignore, bare and irrefutable.
Surely the greatest and most sarcastically brilliant football documentarian to grace our screens?
Amazing Video as always! One of fav channel on RUclips. I always recommend your videos to my friends. Also I have to say it’s shocking you don’t have millions of subscribers. I follow a lot of football channels and you are clearly the best and still channels like FD has millions. I guess a lot of people become uncomfortable when faced with the truth and would rather prefer superficial stuff like doing arbitrary ranking videos. Anyways.. sorry for the rant. Never change Alfie. And thanks
Brilliant video as always. Love these long form documentary style videos, very informative and some of the most honest coverage of football situations I have scene on this platform.
I’m interested in this bridge you were talking about
It was nice knowing you Alfie
Top man Alfie
I love cynical , angry Alfie . The videos that are close to his heart are his very best .
So much f*cling respect for you Alfie.
I am impressed you managed to find a picture of Australia at the Winter Olympics.
A luge team, none the less.
alfie m8, how do u feel bout michael leaving hitc ??
It might be confirmation biais but I think you hit the nail on the head my friend. Good job.