Why after the fall of USSR, arrival of satellite dishes and cable lines Georgian football degraded
There are two spheres where Georgians consider themselves advanced – football and politics. But the generation that grew up during and after the period of Perestroika cannot understand the role of football in the times of Brezhnev.
In 1970s – early 1980s there were car lines from Tbilisi on the way to Pantiani village, where Turkish television was broadcasted. The Soviet television broadcasted only the European matches with participation of Soviet teams. There was no other way to watch the final of the Champions League. The World Football Championship could usually be watched from a recorded copy, like the Championship-1978 in Argentine. The World Championship was like a holiday for the Soviet people, maybe this is why their generation thinks that modern football degraded. There are no longer such fantastic games as Italy – Brazil or France – FRG (1982). It seems as though when Brezhnev passed away the age of great Brazilian football ended as well.
With the arrival of satellite dishes and cable lines Georgian football degraded. The football elite of those years such as Mikhail Meskhi, Slava Metreveli, Alexander Chivadze and David Kipiani has no one to replace them today. There are Georgian fan clubs of Italy, Brazil, Holland, England and even Didier Drogba and a very poor fan club of the Georgian National Team. This makes Georgia unique since no other fooball country has a fan club of its own National Team. The Georgian authorities are spending huge sums of money, by local measures, on junior football, tax benefits, construction of stadiums, but Georgian National Team fails to reach the final of the World of European Championship. Perhaps it is because football is no longer like a holiday and the opportunity of freedom. And the beauty that lacks a dream disappears in daily routine.
Georgiy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
