Political Football: the magnificent, murky world of Soviet, Ukrainian and Russian football

Sep 03, 2018, 12:51 AM

We examine the footballing history of the USSR. Not just those iconic red shirts with CCCP emblazoned across the front in bold white letters, but also how the Soviet authorities used football as a political tool; their successes, failures, bans and boycotts. How did Ukrainian football prosper behind the Iron Curtain, and what changed when the wall came down? In the end, was the 2018 World Cup merely another victory for Moscow's political power?