| In 1951 the Soviet Union returned to the Olympic movement at the cradle thereof along with Pierre de Coubertaine stood the representatives of Russia. Next year was the year of Olympics. Top party management resolved to send Soviet delegation to the Olympics in Helsinki. And what about football? A representative team must go. And there is none. What to do? Who's the champion? CDSA? This team should be sent to the Olympics. Not possible? Why? Name it a representative team and let it go. Report execution of the order. Less than 180 days remained before the Olympics. Execution began. It was resolved to hold national championship in autumn, after the Olympics, as one round competition. In spring (April-June) they held All-Union friendly tournament with participation of Moscow representative team, which, though, after three rounds left the competition. The tournament ended with the victory of the army team (candidates to the Olympic team not participating). B.A. Arkadiev was entrusted to select players for the Olympics and to work with them. M.P. Boutousov and E.I. Eliseev were appointed assistants to Arkadiev. The management (these were party, Komsomol and trade-union leaders, not football experts) had been long deciding what principles should be laid as the basis to form the team. Whether to take the strongest national team CDSA as the basis or to select all the best national players. Finally, it was proposed to Arkadiev to adopt the second alternative. By the way, the name "USSR national team" was never mentioned. Boris Andreevich retained for training only seven army players: Nikanorov, Chistokhvalov, Bashashkin, Nyrkov, Petrov, Nikolaev and Dyomin. Others represented Moscow "Dinamo" and "Spartak", Leningrad "Zenit" and "Dinamo", "Dinamo" (Tbilisi) and VVS - all in all more than thirty players. Before the first check game Chistokhvalov got a serious injury. Dyomin spent only seven minutes on the field after substituting Bobrov in one of the training games, thereafter he was not retained for the training. Valentin Alexandrovich Nikolaev recollects: "…Even today I can't understand why Arkadiev refused the service of such proven left wings as Alexei Grinin and Vladimir Dyomin who were in a good sporting condition at that time. Most probably, Boris Andreevich acted so under the outside pressure or may be just to avoid any gossip thought it better not to include in the representative team too many of his army team players. That's a pity. Today I'm still confident that the four forwards - Grinin, Nikolaev, Bobrov and Dyomin, well teamworked for 5-7 seasons with none of their combat features lost could play in Helsinki much more effectively that those forwards preferred by the coaches. There is no a slightest doubt that as to the playing qualities, high technique and combination play skills C. Beskov from Moscow "Dinamo" was the best match for that "quartet". Together we could make up a very strong attack line..." Under the guise of the same Moscow representative team and then under the name CDSA (!) in May-July the team played nine exhibition games with representative teams of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Finland and Sofia (actually national team of Bulgaria) winning five, having three draws and one defeat. It should be noted that Bulgarians, Czechs and especially Hungarians were very strong football players. Meanwhile the press called the team preparing for the Olympic competition nothing but CDSA. Certain changes were made in the coaching team: Moscow "Dinamo" coach M.I. Yakoushin became the sole assistant to B.A. Arkadiev. As is known at Helsinki Olympics our team played three matches. It beaten Bulgaria in the additional time - 2:1 (goals scored by Trofimov and Bobrov), had a draw with the Yugoslavs - 5:5 (Bobrov - 3, Trofimov and Petrov), and in the replay match lost - 1:3 (Bobrov) and failed to qualify to the next round of the competition. Four CDSA players took part in those games - Anatoly Bashashkin, Yuri Nyrkov, Alexander Petrov and Valentin Nikolaev. It was not the failure in the competition but the defeat from the Yugoslav team became the reason for all the events that followed. Before 1948 relations between Stalin and Tito were warm enough, though later the Yugoslav leader, unlike the leaders of other East European countries liberated by the Red Army, started to conduct a foreign policy independent of the USSR plans. For example, he objected to Stalin plans of forming the Balkans Federation Yugoslavia + Albania), he readily received assistance to his country from the USA, England and other countries hostile to the USSR. That outraged Stalin and yesterday's brother and friend in combating fascism became a sworn enemy. And how dare these sponger football players to discredit their nation! Fire them all, dispel! CDSA? Disband as a military unit that lost its banner in combat. And it was disbanded. The excerpt from the Order of the Committee for physical culture and sports under the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 793 signed by N. Romanov on August 18, 1952 "On Football Team CDSA": "It should be noted that (the team) CDSA's performance at the Olympics was unsatisfactory. It lost to the Yugoslavs and inflicted a material damage to the prestige of the Soviet sport and the Soviet state. Senior coach of the team c. Arkadiev B.A. failed to cope with his duties and didn't provide for proper training of football players causing fiasco of the team at the Olympics. Certain football players of the team, especially the defense line, were irresponsible towards the matches held and played below their level having made many mistakes. I order: 1. for the failure of the team at the Olympics, for the material damage inflicted to the prestige of the Soviet sport to have team CDSA disqualified from the USSR championship and disbanded; 2. for unsatisfactory preparation of the team, for its failure at the Olympics to have the senior coach of team CDSA c. Arkadiev B.A. dismissed and deprived of the "Honored master of sport of the USSR" title; 3. to have considered at the next meeting of the Committee the issue relating to irresponsible behavior of certain football players in the matches with Yugoslavia resulting in fiasco of the team at the Olympics". The excerpt from the order signed by the same person No. 808 of September 2, 1952 "On Football Players of the Team that Has Participated in the Olympics". "…1. for irresponsible behavior resulting in the team's defeat in the match with the Yugoslavs and material damage to the prestige of the Soviet sport to have c. Bashashkin deprived of the "Master of sport of the USSR" title and disqualified for 1 year; 3. for incorrect behavior during the match to have c. Nikolaev deprived of the "Honored Master of sport of the USSR" title and c. Petrov deprived of the "Master of sport of the USSR" title"… But why CDSA team was officially, by the order of a government agency blamed for the defeat? Why doesn't the second order mention the team name at all? It was national representative team that lost to the Yugoslavs. Many opinions have been made public on the issue. It seems to us that the most probable version is like this. Some clubs had "sponsors" at the very top, who not only wished victories to "their" teams but also were making everything possible to clear the road to victories for their teams. CDSA was national pentachampion, a team on the run that managed to win in the All-Union tournament in absence of its strongest players … That's how the "time bond broke", as classic put it. The football team of the Central House of Soviet Army, the great and unique "team of lieutenants" disappeared, sunk into oblivion. In "A" class USSR championship 11 teams participated. Their entry forms were complemented with former CDSA players. For example, defender Anatoly Bashashkin joined Moscow "Spartak", midfield Alexei Vodyagin and young forward Vasily Bouzounov joined Moscow "Dinamo", Andrei Kroushenok and Mikhail Rodin joined "Locomotive". Vyacheslav Soloviev was listed in the entry form of Moscow "Torpedo". Valentin Nikolaev, Alexander Petrov and Yuri Nyrkov played for Kalinin team until it was disbanded. Vladimir Nikanorov, Victor Chistokhvalov, Alexei Grinin and Boris Koverznev played for VVS. Boris Andreevich Arkadiev headed Moscow "Locomotive"… …CDSA team revived in 1954. Though this is another story for the next issue. | 
