FOREIGN minister Boris Johnson, with his usual delicacy of touch and flair for diplomacy, was the man who set the hares racing.

In the wake of a Russian-produced nerve agent being used on British soil against Sergei and Yulia Skripal, he told the House of Commons last week that it would be “very difficult to imagine that UK representation” at this summer’s World Cup in Russia could “go ahead in the normal way”.

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Lobby journalists sat bolt upright. Was this a hint that the Government felt strongly enough about the outrages being perpetrated by the Russian state that they were prepared to tell Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup squad to boycott the summer showpiece? Or just more of the usual political point scoring and playing to the crowds?

As it often does, some clarification emerged from the press office later in the day. And it transpired that all Johnson had really meant to say was that there would be a three-line whip to ensure that MPs, Royals and dignitaries didn’t attend the event. Now that really is the kind of threat guaranteed to have Vladimir Putin quaking in his Black Sea dacha.

It is quite correct that cynicism is the order of the day in such matters. The overwhelming temptation is to make light of the affair or maybe add a Scottish punchline. We, after all, decided to boycott the World Cup already by doing our usual ‘failure to qualify’ act.

But the only problem for the Government, if indeed it is a problem, is that the genie now is out of the bottle. Because if it wasn’t already, the truth is that the idea of a boycott, raised during the week by Labour MP John Woodcock for one, is something which the FA should be giving serious thought to. And if the rest of Britain’s allies, particularly in Europe, were as good as their word when it comes to their pledges of support, what better way to make a point to the Russians than with an EU-wide boycott of the event.

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Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the case, although the fact Britain is slowly disconnecting itself from a continent right now hardly helps us when it comes to calls of collective action. You could argue the global community had enough cause for boycotting this event just on the strength of the flagrant state-sponsored doping abuses around the Sochi Winter Olympics, and influence of mysterious sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

From the undue influence asserted by Benito Mussolini on the 1934 World Cup, grandstanding politicians have always loved wrapping themselves in the flag on these grand sporting occasions. Britain is hardly immune to it, with Tony Blair sensing the London Olympics in 2012 as a perfect platform to project soft power and his Cool Britannia brand.

But whether it is the annexation of Crimea - it occurred just a matter of days following the closing ceremony in Sochi - or chemical weapons being used on British soil, something far darker is going on here. And in terms of crude power politics, hosting these events only bolster the Russian President’s position. You could draw a comparison here between the England team turning up there cap in hand this summer with those grim pictures from Munich back in 1938, where an England team including Sir Stanley Matthews lined up pre-match to give Nazi salutes.

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While the sporting boycott of South Africa played a significant part in the Anti-Apartheid cause during the 1980s, there is only so much in these post-imperial days that a little nation like Britain can do against an intransigent global superpower like Russia but retaining a bit of national dignity would be a good place to start.

On a personal level, of course, a boycott would be a huge inconvenience. A World Cup finals should be the pinnacle of a player’s career, something to be treasured forever. But, however much the security forces will be desperate to ensure it is a PR triumph, I fear the political backdrop in Russia could make this upcoming games in Russia a joyless affair. And whether unilateral or otherwise, the threat of a boycott is one of our few ways to give Putin a bloody nose. In a world, particularly South East Asia and China, where there is an obsession – rightly or wrongly – with the Barclays Premier League, it would be a powerful symbol.