Socialist soccer? The beautiful game in the USSR and after its collapse ft. Yacov Zohn

This week co-hosts Guy and Francesco sit down with Yacov Zohn, a PhD candidate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to explore the fascinating history of football during the Soviet era and its evolution in post-Soviet Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia. Yacov talks about how Soviet football reflected the centralisation of power in Moscow under the party-state, the impact of political and economic shifts under leaders like Stalin and Khrushchev on the game, and the continuities between the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, including the influence of oligarchic power on football clubs in the region.Join us for an engaging discussion that connects politics, history, and sport, shedding light on how the legacy of the Soviet Union continues to shape football in these successor states.