What does the football with the intrigues of power in the Stalinist nomenklatura of the '30s? Why the name of one of the most important teams of Moscow evokes the legendary Spartacus, and the great slave revolt that led to the Third Servile War?
Since the days of ancient Rome, the power has played the major sports events such as the construction site of consenso. Dalle Satire di Giovenale è giunta fino ai nostri giorni la locuzione latina panem et circenses , che richiama una pratica politica, inaugurata durante il periodo repubblicano e proseguita durante tutta l’epoca imperiale, che vedeva i personaggi pubblici offrire derrate alimentari – panem – e spettacoli gladiatorii o di corsa dei cavalli – circenses – alla plebe per guadagnare popolarità.
Non c’è dubbio che il potere abbia spesso beneficiato dell’organizzazione di grandi manifestazioni sportive per rinsaldare la propria base di consenso. Per fare soltanto un esempio, si è sempre pensato che la giunta militare golpista che ha guidato l’Argentina dal 1976 al 1983 non sarebbe sopravvissuta senza l’iniezione di popolarità dovuta alla vittoria, da parte della nazionale albicieleste, della finale dei mondiali di calcio del 1978, giocata in quello stesso stadio di Buenos Aires nel quale centinaia di dissidenti sarebbero poi stati torturati e giustiziati. E tuttavia, proprio la grande popolarità di alcuni personaggi sportivi ha spesso reso possibili aperte sfide al potere.
Non è un caso che la più grande rivolta degli schiavi contro il potere romano, la famosa rivolta di Spartaco del 73 A.C., abbia preso le mosse proprio dalla scuola gladiatoria della città di Capua, in Campania, e che sia stata guidata a gladiator, who enjoyed great popularity for their businesses in the arena. Just as it is no coincidence that the football stadiums has resulted in the more open and provocative challenge to the NKVD, Stalin's powerful secret police and his boss, Laurentij Beria. And from a football team, Spartak Moscow, that the slave rebels had taken the name.
The Soviet regime saw immediately the potential of football as an instrument of consent. In 1923, the Soviet soccer underwent a radical transformation of the regime, who rebuilt the football club "on the basis of departmental: 
each team fell under the control of a particular sector of the administration. It was thus, for example, that the team CSKA Moscow became the army, the Lokomotiv Moscow Railways team, Dynamo Moscow and fell under the control of the Ministry of Interior, becoming the team's secret police, the Cheka, later chiamatasi NKVD and finally KGB. Being the team of a particular department meant not only that the administrative control was exercised and sporty on the team by the officials of the department, but that the players themselves, at least formally, respectively, were soldiers, railway workers or agents of the secret police. The rivalry between the various teams are not exhausted on the floor sports: the affirmation della squadra calcistica di un certo dipartimento confermava, agli occhi del popolo, l'importanza del personaggio politico cui quel dipartimento faceva riferimento nella gerarchia del partito. Le squadre di calcio divennero, nel giro di poco tempo, un terreno di scontro sul quale contendere il primato politico, ed i calciatori, pur essendo figure certamente privilegiate nel panorama sociale sovietico, si trovarono ad essere sottoposti a pressioni politiche inimmaginabili.
each team fell under the control of a particular sector of the administration. It was thus, for example, that the team CSKA Moscow became the army, the Lokomotiv Moscow Railways team, Dynamo Moscow and fell under the control of the Ministry of Interior, becoming the team's secret police, the Cheka, later chiamatasi NKVD and finally KGB. Being the team of a particular department meant not only that the administrative control was exercised and sporty on the team by the officials of the department, but that the players themselves, at least formally, respectively, were soldiers, railway workers or agents of the secret police. The rivalry between the various teams are not exhausted on the floor sports: the affirmation della squadra calcistica di un certo dipartimento confermava, agli occhi del popolo, l'importanza del personaggio politico cui quel dipartimento faceva riferimento nella gerarchia del partito. Le squadre di calcio divennero, nel giro di poco tempo, un terreno di scontro sul quale contendere il primato politico, ed i calciatori, pur essendo figure certamente privilegiate nel panorama sociale sovietico, si trovarono ad essere sottoposti a pressioni politiche inimmaginabili. Laurentij Berija, potentissimo funzionario della polizia politica segreta, braccio 
destro di Stalin – per il quale organizzò le più massicce purghe dei famigerati anni ’30 -, con un velleitario passato giovanile di calciatore, practiced more than any other its political influence on football. But arrived at the head of the NKVD in 1938, a few years ago was in fact recognized the godfather of Dynamo Moscow. Its political influence, and the terror inflicted in those years by the secret police, Beria had the tools to influence the world of football, both as regards the arbitrage - the fans of other teams with Dinamo Moscow indicated that of the appellation "thieves" - both in terms of making sure the performance of the best players. There is therefore no surprise that, in conjunction with the irrepressible political rise of Beria and the burgeoning Stalinist repression, Dinamo Moscow, Soviet dominated the football landscape.
destro di Stalin – per il quale organizzò le più massicce purghe dei famigerati anni ’30 -, con un velleitario passato giovanile di calciatore, practiced more than any other its political influence on football. But arrived at the head of the NKVD in 1938, a few years ago was in fact recognized the godfather of Dynamo Moscow. Its political influence, and the terror inflicted in those years by the secret police, Beria had the tools to influence the world of football, both as regards the arbitrage - the fans of other teams with Dinamo Moscow indicated that of the appellation "thieves" - both in terms of making sure the performance of the best players. There is therefore no surprise that, in conjunction with the irrepressible political rise of Beria and the burgeoning Stalinist repression, Dinamo Moscow, Soviet dominated the football landscape. But another Soviet power of football, with very different origins, was born. The history of Spartak Moscow is inextricably linked to that of its founder and captain 
Nikolaij Starostin, great athlete able to succeed in both football and ice hockey, the two most popular sports in Russia. Spartak Moscow was the result of years of effort, carried out by Starostin and his three brothers, all professional footballers around the nucleus of the Moscow Sport Circle, to build a football team independent from politics, and organized around a union worker, the union of workers in the food sector. A key role in this process was also played by Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (the Union of Young Communists), who helped Starostin organizational work and to find a stadium Spartak (just like the Starostin brothers, even on Kosarev fell to the Revenge of Beria). Spartak's name, in honor of Spartacus, was chosen by Starostin in 1935.
Nikolaij Starostin, great athlete able to succeed in both football and ice hockey, the two most popular sports in Russia. Spartak Moscow was the result of years of effort, carried out by Starostin and his three brothers, all professional footballers around the nucleus of the Moscow Sport Circle, to build a football team independent from politics, and organized around a union worker, the union of workers in the food sector. A key role in this process was also played by Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (the Union of Young Communists), who helped Starostin organizational work and to find a stadium Spartak (just like the Starostin brothers, even on Kosarev fell to the Revenge of Beria). Spartak's name, in honor of Spartacus, was chosen by Starostin in 1935. In 1936 the Soviet football suffered another major restructuring, which led to the birth of a league and a cup of the Soviet Union. The rivalry between the Dynamo and Spartak broke out immediately, and the duel was immediately interpreted as a comparison between the team that represented the political power and the team that represented the popular instances repressed by the regime. Dinamo won the championship in the spring, Spartak the fall term, while the cup was won by Lokomotiv. The 1937 ended with the triumph of Dinamo in all competitions. In 1938 Stalin appointed Beria head of the NKVD. Everything indicates that no one could stop most of the Dynamo football supremacy.
But according to the old adage of football, despite a strong repressive increasingly bloody, despite the overwhelming political and economic supremacy by Dinamo, despite all this, "the ball is round" and Spartak in 1938, driven by grit and determination of the Starostin brothers and the support of the popular classes Moscow, won the victory in all competitions. Beria was furious, but the popularity of the Starostin brothers were enjoying at that time was such as to prohibit any retaliation. In 1939, the script did not seem to change. Spartak technical superiority was unquestionable, and the two bitter rivals came face in the semifinals. Spartak won the match well, and Beria did not see us anymore. Using all his influence was able to obtain that the meeting was repeated two weeks later. Meanwhile, exerted very strong pressure and threats sull’entourage dello Spartak affinché perdesse la partita.
Starostin sapeva di avere dietro di sé tutta Mosca, e decise di non piegarsi alla 
richiesta di Berija. In un clima di altissima tensione, andò in scena il secondo round di una partita che lo Spartak aveva già dimostrato di poter vincere. E così fu: la partita terminò 1-0 per lo Spartak, e al fischio finale Berija prese a calci la poltrona sulla quale assisteva al match. Lo Spartak vinse poi anche la finale, concludendo il 1939 con la vittoria di tutte le competizioni, per il secondo anno consecutivo. La popolarità della squadra non era mai stata così elevata: nessuno aveva mai inferto al capo dell’apparato della repressione Stalin slapped so open and obvious. Starostin was able to expose the power to public ridicule in a much more dangerous than it could do the intellectuals or artists dissidents, on which the arm of the police repression could attack without fear of triggering popular uprisings.
richiesta di Berija. In un clima di altissima tensione, andò in scena il secondo round di una partita che lo Spartak aveva già dimostrato di poter vincere. E così fu: la partita terminò 1-0 per lo Spartak, e al fischio finale Berija prese a calci la poltrona sulla quale assisteva al match. Lo Spartak vinse poi anche la finale, concludendo il 1939 con la vittoria di tutte le competizioni, per il secondo anno consecutivo. La popolarità della squadra non era mai stata così elevata: nessuno aveva mai inferto al capo dell’apparato della repressione Stalin slapped so open and obvious. Starostin was able to expose the power to public ridicule in a much more dangerous than it could do the intellectuals or artists dissidents, on which the arm of the police repression could attack without fear of triggering popular uprisings. Dinamo Moscow was able to assert itself again in the 1940 championship, but this satisfaction was not enough to erase the thoughts of revenge Beria. In 1941, Hitler called off Operation Barbarossa: the invasion of the Soviet Union by the German army, in violation of the non-aggression pact signed by Ribbentrop and Molotov in 1939. With the advent the war, the football championship was interrupted, and the Soviet Union concentrated all its forces in the resistance to the Nazis. The propaganda machine worked at full capacity in exalting the heroism of Soviet soldiers, and all the public attention was devoted to the war effort. The share of public attention gained by the Starostin brothers, who had been until then their life insurance policy, was soon swept away the impetuous flow of events. It was time for Beria, to enjoy the long-awaited revenge.
the night of March 20, 1942 agents of the NKVD, in the usual modus operandi, broke into the house of Starostin dei suoi fratelli, e di altri giocatori dello Spartak, con l’accusa di aver preso parte ad un complotto per assassinare Stalin. Dopo due anni di prigionia e di interrogatori nel famigerato carcere Lubyanka, le accuse di complotto vennero lasciate cadere, ma i fratelli Starostin furono comunque condannati a 10 anni di lavori forzati in Siberia con l’incredibile accusa di aver praticato il calcio in modo borghese.
In virtù della loro popolarità, Starostin e gli altri subirono un trattamento particolarmente benevolo nel gulag, riuscendo a sopravvivere fino al 1948, anno in cui Vasily, figlio di Stalin e capo dell’Aviazione Militare, nonché rivale di Berija, 
ottenne di poter riportare Starostin in Moscow, to coach the football team of aviation. Despite the protection of Vasily, Beria was able to recapture Starostin, and eventually reached a compromise that saw him exiled to Kazakhstan, to train local teams. In 1953 Stalin died, Beria was defeated in the struggle to succeed and shot, and Starostin benefited from the rehabilitation of many political dissidents who had called during the process of de-Stalinization. So he could return to lead Spartak Moscow, as president, until his death in 1992. Under his presidency, Spartak won the other 9 USSR championships, 8 cups Soviet Russian championship, and reached le semifinali della Coppa dei Campioni del 1990-91.
ottenne di poter riportare Starostin in Moscow, to coach the football team of aviation. Despite the protection of Vasily, Beria was able to recapture Starostin, and eventually reached a compromise that saw him exiled to Kazakhstan, to train local teams. In 1953 Stalin died, Beria was defeated in the struggle to succeed and shot, and Starostin benefited from the rehabilitation of many political dissidents who had called during the process of de-Stalinization. So he could return to lead Spartak Moscow, as president, until his death in 1992. Under his presidency, Spartak won the other 9 USSR championships, 8 cups Soviet Russian championship, and reached le semifinali della Coppa dei Campioni del 1990-91. Questa è soltanto una delle numerose storie in cui il calcio, lo sport popolare di massa per eccellenza, incrocia le vicende politiche della propria epoca, condizionandole e venendone condizionato. Spesso il calcio è stato strumento al servizio del potere, qualche volta è stato terreno di coltura per i germi della ribellione. Con questo pezzo intendiamo inaugurare una rubrica che racconti queste storie, spesso ignorate o dimenticate.
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