SOVIET SPORTS AS AN INSTRUMENT OF POLITICAL PROPAGANDA

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80-00810A005800260002-1
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
S
Document Page Count: 
4
Document Creation Date: 
December 21, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 19, 2008
Sequence Number: 
2
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 20, 1955
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP80-00810A005800260002-1.pdf284.43 KB
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Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY INFORMATION REPORT SUBJECT Soviet Sports as an Instrument of Political Prop:.gunda This is UNEVALUATED Information This material. contains information affecting the Na- tional Defense of the United States within the mean- ing of the Rirpionap Laws. Title 1$. U.S.C. Secs. 790 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unsuthorlaed person is prohibited by law. REPORT DATE DISTR. 20 January 1955 25X1 NO. OF PAGES REQUIREMENT NO. RD REFERENCES THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE. THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE. (FOR KEY SEE REVERSE) 1. Soviet sport is not the same as sport in the non-Comaunist world. Instead, 25X1 it is a political device used by the Central Committee of the CPSU to attain its political ends, both at home and abroad, by endeavoring to prove that only in a ConQminist society does the average person have the opportunity to achieve outstanding sports results. Conversely, this is impossible in a capitalist bourgeoisie,where, according to Comm mist beliefs, human beings are slaves to the ruling class and have no opportunity to advance up through the ranks of sc:.iety. Perhaps it is unconscious, but the Soviets are following the example of Hitler, who tried, in a like manner, to show the rest of the world that it was dominated by a race of supermen. 2. the Soviets persist in accusing the United States of the guilt of arrogating to the American people an attitude of super-race, as frequently exemplified in American motion pictures and comic books. It is, of course, the USSR that is the most culpable in this respect. Using as a basis Stalin's words to the effect that the lowest individual in the Soviet Union stands a thousand heads higher than the topmost official in the capitalist world, the Soviet leaders "are spoiling the soul of the people". 3. One way to prove this theory at home and impress people abroad is to give evi- dence of the propaganda point of the Soviet superman by sending abroad only teams that will be victorious. Soviet athletic.teams do not vi,-it foreign countries to compete; they go to win. For this reason, no.team is dispatched abroad unless it stands a near-r'rfect chance of winning. The question of keen athletic competition never arige3. X ARMY X I NAVY Z Fal A[C l ; (NOTE: wall iap oR dbfibsiion iadkehd by ,r,; Field dhNl6Misa it U 1 4 Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 SECRET 25X1 4. Each problem of athletic competition with foreign teams is carefully studied in advance by the Council of Ministers' Committee of Physical Culture and Sport. Only when the Committee of Physical Culture and Sport can give the Party Central Committee tle assurance that the Soviet team in question will win is that team approved for travel abroad. The Soviet Government makes use of every asset available to determine the effectiveness and level of ability of any given foreign sports competitor, whether bicycle racer or soccer team. Even the secret intelligence apparatus abroad is used to find the answer to the question: Can the Soviets win thl.s match? If the free world team under study is reported to be strong and unlikely to lose to the USSR team, then the Committee of Physical Culture and Sport submits a negative recommendation, and the CC rules that the team will not be dispatched. 5. The Committee of Physical Culture and Sport selects All-Union stars from sporting societies and clubs throughout the country. Only the cream is picked, although for purposes of deception this composite group is lent the name of the Dynamo or Spartak or other well-known team. This is intended to show foreigners that the team is only one of a number of good Soviet amateur sports teams. Prior to their departure from the USSR, all athletes are security- cleared. Their patriotism, political reliability, and possiblity of defection are weighed. Thus ,it so happens that sometimes good athletes with black marks in their records are not permitted to go abroad, or else are permitted to go only if they are under the watchful eye of a specially designated "coach" or "trainer". The foreign intelligence service (KGB) has the responsibility for the security of these teams while they are abroad. For this purpose, the security service always recruits informers among the team; their job is to report any undue interest or friendliness shown by their teammates in whom they meet and what they see while traveling. 6. InL,:-Iiately before their departure from the USSR, all athletes are summoned to the Central Committee,where they are given a serious pop-talk. They are reminded of their responsibilities in defending Soviet glory and holding high the banners of Soviet honor. Some of these sportsmen are politically unsophis- ticated, and set out to accomplish their patriotic tasks "with wild-eyed enthusiasm". This is one reason why foreign sports writers covering events featuring Soviet athletes often comment on the apparently fanatic attitude and regimented discipline of the Soviets. 7. Soviet propaganda has persistently shouted to the free world that there are no professional athletes in the USSR. The "incomparable" Soviet society, accord- ing to this theme, provides the average Soviet citizen, whether male or female, with the opportunity to engage in the sports of their desire. This opportunity" exists uniformly throughout the Soviet manses. There, unlike in capitalist countries, "sports are for the people". The inevitable result of such"un- paralleled freedom of choice"is that Soviet teams vanquish easily other teams when they engage in athletic competition abroad. 8. In actuality, however, everyone in the USSR who has any familiarity with Soviet sports knows that in each sports club, especially in the top-notch Dynamo, 25X1 Spartak, Torpedo, and TBDSA, there exist cadres of real experts who specialize in soccer, or in track-and-field events, or in swimming or hockey, and so forth. The champions receive a salary, in effect for being "master of s Dort". Their wares Pre paid on an established. re mom basis. 9. As in some other countries, the USSR selects annually the ten best players in each sport. The first-rank players gain not only acclaim, but also 2,500 rubles monthly for the coming year. Players in the second to seventh or eighth positions receive a smaller stipend, perhaps 1,500 or 1,200 rubles monthly. For purpose of formality, these players are known publicly as job-holders, whether on the Committee of Physical Culture and Sport or in industry. Mikhail Karchyagin was at one time the fourth or fifth ranking tennis player on the Spartak team. He Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 -3- was a graduate physician, and was carried on the Spartak's rolls as a doctor. However, "he has never cured a patient and has surely forgotten his medical training". 10. The ZIS Torpedo soccer teem has as its captain an ace player, Gomez (fnu), who came to the USSR from Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Gomez is known as "an engineer" at the ZIS plant. "Gomez has forgotten his engineering because he devotes his full time to soccer". 11. Nina Leo, who at one time held third or fourth place among the USSR's women's tennis singles champions. (Her husband was arrested in 1937 or 1938 as "an enemy of the people", and has not been seen since.) Mrs. Leo received her compensation, as a tennis star, from the Finance Section o the Committee of Physical Culture and Sport. When she and her fellow-athletes stopped by to pick up their pay, they were required to sign a secrecy oath in which they promisei, never to reveal the fact that they receive pay for their athletic endeavors, "under threat of legal prosecution and punishment". 12. Soviet athletes are given, free of charge, all items of sports equipment needed to outfit them completely, from head to foot. Each autumn and spring, these "amateurs" get a special month's leave to rest and relax in a fashionable Crimean or Caucasian health resort. While actually engaging in matches or games, the athletes receive reimbursement for their food, hotel, and travel bills. The best of modern medical care is available to them when needed. "They are looked after as if they were valuable racing horses." 13. The soccer teams are a good example of this amateur's paradise. The training of the "A" Conference soccer teams begins in the spring of each year. The first teams in each area "A" Conference are sent to a Black Sea resort for two months of pre-season training. The schedule begins in late April and continues until the final play-offs in late November. That is to say, the soccer players spend one-half the year playing their schedule, touring the cities and towns of the USSR. And still Gomez is known as a ZIS automotive engineer. 14. After the play-offs, the soccer teams return to Sochi, or some other spa, for another month's rest. Members of the All-Union championship team receive personal bonuses of 5,000 rubles. Athletic amateurism in the Soviet Union de- veloped after World War II to the extent that, during the yearly soccer finals, a soccer player was awarded 400 rubles for each goal he could score. Soccer players also share in the gate receipts. The official price to enter the Dynamo Stadium is only 10 to 15 rubles, but the tickets are usually scalped at 50 to 100 rubles. 15. First-string athlete-3 live as well as the higher-paid government functionaries. They have autos, a definite sign of material comfort in the USSR; they are well paid; and they do not complain about their circumstances. 16. Sporting events in the USSR are not devoid of problems. In 1947, during the championship match at the Dynamo Stadium between the TsDSA and Dynamo teams, there were, as usual, two or three battalions of MVD Internal Troops dispersed through and around the spectators. There were 80,000 spectators at this match, and the Internal Troops occupied the lowest two or three rows in the stands, forming a ring between the field and the spectators. The favored team that year was the TsDSA, mainly because the Dynamo Club was comprised wholly of MVD-IOB personnel. The game was a close one, and the crowd tense. The TsDSA won and the fans, disregarding the guards, rushed onto the field to congratulate the winners. The mica and troops made a desperate effort to keep the crowd in the stands, but unsuccessfully. A number of altercations broke out and,to the satisfaction of the spectators, several policemen were seriously mauled on the field by the crowd. The police became terrified, but they were unable to do anything about the situation. The only result was that the guards around the field were increased at the resumption of the schedule. Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1 Approved For Release 2008/06/19: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA005800260002-1