Cold War Football: Soviet Defence and Yugoslav Attack following the Tito–Stalin Split of 1948

Abstract

This essay explores the symbolic role played by football in the Tito–Stalin Split (1948–1953). In particular, it examines the Yugoslav national team’s victory over the Soviet Union at the 1952 Olympics in Finland. It asks how Yugoslav sports administrators, athletes and the press negotiated the transition from a position of affectionate sporting emulation of the USSR, to one of hostile opposition. Both regimes paid close attention to international sporting competition and its potential propaganda benefits. Shedding light on an early intra-socialist rupture, this case deserves to be considered alongside better known instances of sporting conflict in the Cold War.