Football in the Soviet Union
Football was a popular sport in the Soviet Union, with the national football championships being one of the major annual sporting events. Youth and children competitions as a regular event started after the war and each team of masters (official designation for professional team) in the top two tiers were fielding its youth squad in separate competition. Women official competitions started only 1990, just before dissolution of the Soviet Union.
| Football in Soviet Union | |
|---|---|
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Governing body | Football Federation of USSR |
| National team(s) | Soviet Union national football team |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
List
| |
International competitions | |
Football in the Soviet Union existed in realities of the economy and law of the Soviet Union, where the state owned all big industry and professional sports were prohibited. Instead of being professionals, athletes were made employees of either a state enterprise or a state government department, to which a sports society belonged or assigned. Therefore, in the Soviet Union existed two statuses for footballers: amateur and non-amateur.