1937 Soviet Cup
On the eve of the start, "Krasny Sport" published a whole page of the most diverse information: the average age and experience of the participants, information about the holders of the "2nd class GTO" badges, the performances of the team captains, a solid analytical article by Mikhail Romm, a forecast by the chairman of the All-Union Collegium of Judges Vladimir Ryabokon...[1] The Soviet and Russian football journalist and sport historian Aksel Vartanyan in his the Aksel Vartanyan annals indicated that Dinamo Tbilisi team of masters were considered the favorites of the tournament considering the newspaper articles of that period.
In the evening, the Moscow Lokomotiv team received a telegram from the head of the All-Union Committee for Physical Culture and Sports, Comrade Kharchenko, that the friendly match that took place on the 24th was considered official.
The newspaper "Krasny Sport" expressed its attitude to the incident on May 29 in an article entitled "MATCH "LOKOMOTIV" - "SUDOSTROITEL" MUST TAKE PLACE".
Having briefly outlined the facts known to us, the newspaper concluded: "The Marty Plant team sent a representative to Moscow to protest the Committee's decision.
A clear injustice has been committed against the young, capable plant team... Comrade Kharchenko should reconsider his wrong decision.
"Indeed, petitioners ("khodoki") set out from Nikolaev to the capital on behalf of the city's factory, party and sports organizations in the hope of finding the truth in the highest offices of the main physical culture department.
People came to Nikolaev from Kherson, Odessa, from collective farms, MTS... From 2:30 the stadium began to fill up and by six o'clock it was full.
And suddenly, 15 minutes before the start of the game, we learned that the Lokomotiv players had boarded the bus and left, but not for the stadium, but for the train station.
And only after learning that Nikolaev's delegation was leaving for Moscow to protest the illegal decision, the indignant public began to disperse.
The Committee did not respond to our telegraphed protest, although before this decision, Comrade Raspevin sent three telegrams confirming that the match would take place.
"The illogical, contradictory, convulsive movements of the physical culture committee (the sudden cancellation of a three-time agreement to replay without explanation) mean one thing: the order for Kharchenko to leave Nikolayev was imposed from the outside.
[1] Aksel Vartanyan in his "Annals" mentions that at least at local level NKVD was using scare tactics to help own football teams.
A harsh fate handed them over to the internal affairs agencies of two neighboring republics - the Dynamo players of Yerevan, Batumi and Tbilisi.
The Armenians were persuaded in Baku (1:0), and in Batumi, where "Neftyanik" beat the hosts with the same score, the team was subjected to a real, without quotes, interrogation after the game.
[1] "At midnight, the deputy responsible secretary of the Dynamo society, Aksava, arrived at the hotel where our team, Neftyanik, was staying, accompanied by the duty officer of the city police, Nikonov, and another person.
Having completed the "night operation", the investigators left the hotel, taking with them the passports of Gnezdov and Sidorenko and asking them to go to the police department to see Nikonov.
"Having miraculously freed themselves from the tenacious embrace of the Batumi investigators (after such night interrogations in those years not everyone was let go free so easily), they even tried to find out the name of the violator of Soviet laws!
Having learned from bitter experience, they behaved correctly and did not give any reason for arrest: without scoring a single goal, they lost 0:3.
Satisfied with the results of the "interrogation", the Tbilisi "NKVD" officers found no evidence of a crime in their actions and let them go in peace.
Yesenin immediately took the bull by the horns:[3] " - Aleksandr Semenovich, the question is still unclear: did you score nine goals in the cup game or not?
