Russia is spending $30 million on an obscure sport called acrobatic rock'n'roll

It’s gymnastics meets figure skating meets jazzercise meets the can-can.

It’s acrobatic rock’n’roll, and it just became one of the most well-funded sports in Russia.

According to Reuters, Moscow has approved the construction of a complex devoted entirely to the niche sport at the cost of 1.9 billion roubles, or more than $30 million. It will be the first center of its kind in the world, the sport’s governing body, the World Rock'n'Roll Confederation told Reuters.

But why is Russia spending tens of millions of dollars on a sport that just 9,000 Russians compete in?

According to an official statement from Moscow, where the facility will be constructed, it’s just part of the city’s devotion to athletics.

“Moscow attaches great importance to building sports facilities. Over the past five years in Moscow the number of new sports facilities being brought on-stream has effectively doubled,” the statement read.

Others, however, have noted that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, just so happens to have been trained in acrobatic rock’n’roll, competed in the sport, is a vice president at the WRRC and helps to run the sport’s national federation.

The Kremlin declined to comment on the possible connection, per Reuters.

Even without the facility, Russia has done well in the sport in recent years, with five world championships since 2006, per the WRRC’s website. Tikhonova and her partner are ranked 11th in the world.

Moscow’s decision to commit millions to the sport, more than it does to archery or biathlon, sports that country has won Olympic medals in in the past, is especially controversial given several details of the project and recent allegations of widespread state-sponsored doping.

Reuters reports that the facility will be nearly 140,000 square feet and will feature a 2,000-person competition space, swimming pool, gymnasium and helicopter pad. Reuters cited political opposition who said the project was specifically for Tikhonova.

Allegations of state interference in Russian athletics is nothing new. On Friday, the World Anti-Doping Agency released a report detailing massive state-sponsored doping across 1,000 athletes and multiple sports stretching back at least four years. As a result, many are calling for the International Olympic Committee to impose harsh penalties against the country for future Olympic Games.

Dancesport, or competitive dancing, is not an Olympic sport, but it is one of several dozen sports with federations recognized by the IOC.

Regardless, as news of the acrobatic rock’n’roll facility spread on social media, several observers expressed gratitude for being exposed to the wildly unusual sport.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Russia is spending $30 million on an obscure sport called acrobatic rock'n'roll."