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The Luzhniki Stadium Disaster |
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Written by Christopher Laws
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The Soviet Union came away from the 1952 Olympic Games, held in Helsinki, Finland, having won 71 medals. This was an impressive haul, especially given that it marked the state's first appearance at an Olympics, and it left them in second place in the overall medal table. Above them, however, sat the United States, who won only six more medals at the Olympics, but whose 40 Golds dwarfed the 22 won by the Soviets. The Soviet Union wanted more from their athletes, and considered that the best way to achieve this would be to build a state-of-the-art sports stadium, complete with training facilities, in Moscow, their capital.
Plans began to be made. A site in Luzhniki, across the Moskva River from the Lenin Hills (renamed the Sparrow Hills in 1999), near the centre of Moscow and well connected to the rest of the city via the Moscow Metro, was chosen for the new stadium’s location. On the 23rd December1954 these initial positional plans for what was to be called the ‘Central Lenin Stadium’ were made public. The stadium was designed in 90 days by the group of architects who had decided upon its location and construction began in the spring of 1955. Employing volunteers from all over the Soviet Union; utilising materials from Leningrad, to Irkutsk in Sibera, to Podolsk in the Moscow Oblast itself; from the Ukraine and Armenia, from Riga in Latvia, Kaunas in Lithuania, and Minsk in Belarus – the stadium was built in just 450 days. The grand opening took place on 31st July, 1956.
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A Worthy Cause:
Despite being crowned UEFA's Forward of the Year with a margin more than twice that of his nearest rival, the most expensive footballer of all time Cristiano Ronaldo, there was little that the dimunitive Argentine Lionel Messi could do to turn a drab match into the spectacle of attacking football that both Mircir Lucescu and Josep Guardiola had promised before fick-off. It was a pity as these matches highlight the work of UEFA's charity of the year. This year's recipient of the one million Swiss Francs cheque from UEFA's President Michel Platini was the National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS).1 Joyce Cook, NADS' Chair accepted the cheque along with NADS ambassador Danny Wallace – the former Manchester United and Southampton winger.2
Wallace was an exciting winger in his heyday. He was forced to quit football as the effects of multiple sclerosis took their toll. He works with NADS to highlight issues of disability and what football can do to help. He received a good ovation at the Grimaldi Forum when he accompanied Cook onto the stage to receive the cheque from Platini. There is still a lot of work to be done to make football stadiums accessible to the disabled. UEFA's recognition of their work will help greatly. “We are delighted to offer continuing support to NADS,” said Empower-Sport Magazine editor Derek Miller. “We have published articles on their work and we hope that UEFA's award will help to publicise the excellent work that they do throughout Europe.” Sadly the football on display did not live up to the occasion.
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From Strength to Strength |
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The Olympic Games ended months ago, followed by the most successful Paralympic Games, but while Manchester United prepare for a date in Rome against possibly the best Barcelona team ever next week, they should spare a thought for athletes who have suffered far more for sport. Paralympic athletes have centre stage in Manchester for six days in May as disabled competitors show both talent and determination in abundance in athletics, cycling, swimming and wheelchair basketball.
The Paralympic World Cup takes place every year in Manchester. It has grown steadily since its inception four years ago. The fifth World Cup is set to be the best ever – just under 400 participants have come from 31 countries and 174 of the medallists from Beijing have travelled to Manchester. The event is sponsored by BT and the BBC is televising it. The idea was developed by ParalympicsGB and the International Paralympic Committee late in 2004. It has become the biggest event in the Paralympic calendar after the Olympic Games itself.
ParalympicsGB took over 200 athletes to China and they excelled, winning 102 medals, 42 of which were gold. They had set high standards as the welcome paralympic athletes to Britain. While London prepares for 2012, Manchester can boast an exceptionally important event, which will continue to grow. 357 medals will be handed out for 119 events, which is the biggest multi-sport event since Beijing bade farewell to the Olympic Games. UK Sport, Manchester City Council and the North-west Regional Development Agency are important backers as well, without whom this event could not take place The tournament was opened by South African athlete and Paralympic legend Oscar Pistorius, who wants to test himself against able-bodied athletes, along with Jody Cundy, Natalie Jones and Joe Bestwick.
The PWC has the full support of able-bodied Olympic icons Lord Sebastian Coe and Sir Chris Hoy. For further information on Paralympic sport in Britain see www.paralympics.org.uk the website of ParalympicsGB – The British Paralympics Association. We hope to see the prestigious sports events incorporate paralympic competitors into their events sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, enjoy the greatest multi-sport event since Beijing. |
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With facilities for disabled athletes in Britain needing improving those with an Intellectual Disability seek re-entry to the Olympic Field.
With eight gold, nine silver and eight bronze medals Britain came 5th in the medals table at the second Global Games in Prague organised by the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability [INAS-FID] at the beginning of July.
The Global Games are the largest international multi-sport competition for athletes with an intellectual disability and had over 1,300 athletes from 34 countries participating.
A successful competition was considered vital if athletes with an intellectual [learning] disability are to be allowed back into the Paralympic field. They were banned after the majority of the gold winning Spanish basketball squad at the 2000 Sydney games were found not to have an intellectual disability and doubts were cast on other athlete’s participation rights.
Since then the International Paralympic Committee [IPC] Games has been working with INAS-FID on finding a solution to prevent further cheating and is expected to make a decision on whether athletes with an intellectual disability may be included alongside athletes with physical disabilities in the London 2012 Paralympic Games in November.
One of the people competing in Prague was 17-year-old James Simpson from Ulverston, Cumbria. It’s the birthplace of comic actor Stan Laurel but the youngster won’t be laughing if the IPC refuse to allow him to compete at the 2012 Games as he “is desperate to compete in London in order to help achieve my main goal from athletics which is to win an Olympic medal for team GB and myself.”
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Old Firm Rising...above sectarianism |
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 Success and football have been strange bedfellows outside Scotland, ever since the Tartan Army swarmed into Argentina in 1978, promising to bring back the World Cup. Even a famous 3-2 morale boosting victory against beaten finalists Holland could not wash away poor perfomances against Peru and Iran. Since then, infamous World Cup defeats to Costa Rica in 1990, and Morocco in 1998, have largely condemned the Scots to the shallow ranks of the world’s footballing minnows.
"We do have the greatest fans in the world but I've never seen a fan score a goal." Jock Stein, Scotland Football Manager, 1982 World Cup in Spain
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