Turning the pages back... June 26, 1994 (06/25/06)

Turning the pages back...

June 26, 1994

With all the excitement over Ukraine's debut in the World Cup of soccer this year, an article carried in The Weekly on June 26, 1994, reminds us of the significance of the 2006 event as Ukraine was barred from the 1994 World Cup.

On December 2, 1991, Ukraine applied for independent membership in FIFA, soccer's world body, with plans for a formal international program in 1992. On December 7, 1991, FIFA officials met in New York and decided to admit Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as provisional members, while refusing, pending further study, applications from Ukraine, Georgia and Croatia.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, questions were raised regarding the world of soccer politics - the balance had been upset and the question was how to restore that balance. Would the Russian Federation simply replace the Soviet Union, or would the Russians need to apply to FIFA as a new member-state?

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) gained the Baltic states, Ukraine and Georgia, and with the break-up of Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia. This meant more votes in FIFA, which could have seriously altered soccer's political balance of power.

On December 31, 1991, the Ukrainian team was offered an opportunity to play in a championship to determine who would represent the CIS as the "Unified Team," but Ukraine immediately pulled out and said it would form its own league. The following month, FIFA and UEFA agreed to recognize the CIS as the interim successor to the Soviet Union within the world and European soccer arenas.

The CIS Football Federation warned the newly independent states that, under FIFA rules, any nation not joining in the new CIS league would find itself in international isolation. CIS Football Federation President Vyacheslav Koloskov during this time became president of the Russian Football Association and also changed his mind about the open league and playoff tournaments to determine who would represent the CIS team. From there, the Russian Football Association would select the team for the European Football Championship (Euro Cup) in Sweden and the Russian Federation team would be the successor of the Soviet Union in the 1994 World Cup finals.

In an attempt to resolve the confusion, a former USSR team manager, Anatoliy Byshovets, a Ukrainian, suggested that all the member-teams of the CIS should compete, with the winner representing the CIS. In all likelihood, Ukraine would face Russia in the tournament, and Russia did not want to take the chance of a Ukrainian team representing the CIS or the Russian Federation on the world stage.

On April 29, 1992, the Ukrainian team would play its first match as an independent team against Hungary in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Those players who were selected for the Ukrainian team and the CIS team were allowed to play for both teams up until the end of the Euro Cup in June 1992. Problems ensued regarding players not wishing to play for the CIS team, and the CIS imposed a one-year ban on any player who left his club to join a team in Ukraine without its consent.

Ukraine kept its obligations to the CIS team and played in the quadrennial Euro Cup of 1992 held in Sweden, but afterwards Ukraine asserted its independence from Moscow and declared that all Ukrainian players resident at home or elsewhere were now dependent on the Football Association in Kyiv. Recognition also came from FIFA Secretary Sepp Blatter, who said that there would be no difficulty recognizing the Ukrainian team, but raised questions on how clubs from new national teams would qualify for the next series of World Cup competitions.

In March 1993 the CIS Champions Cup was played indoors in Moscow, but Ukraine withdrew before the start, refusing to take part in a tournament run by the Russian Football Association, and claiming that to do so would be "humiliating." No other CIS competitions were staged.

Source: "Why Ukraine was barred from the 1994 World Cup" by Mark Papworth and Oleh Szmelskyj, The Ukrainian Weekly, June 26, 1994, Vol. LXII, No. 26.

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