Match for peace

The memory of the Tashkent Pakhtakor players, who perished in a plane crash, was honoured in Minsk

Dinamo — Pakhtakor. The match of the USSR Football Championship with the participation of these teams was supposed to take place on August 11th, 1979. On that day, the players and coaching staff from the Tashkent team set off to Minsk but never reached their destination. The plane they were flying collided with another airliner in the sky over Dneprodzerzhinsk. All 178 passengers on board lost their lives, including 17 representatives of Pakhtakor. Forty-five years later, the match still took place — to honour the memory of the deceased football players, veterans from both clubs took to the field of the Dinamo-Yuni stadium.

Pakhtakor and Dinamo Minsk veterans met on the field to honour the memory of the players who died in a plane crash     
Ilya Shvedko

The ‘unplayed match’ was preceded by other events. In the morning, Pakhtakor veterans and family members of the deceased players went on a tour of Minsk, which ended at the Dinamo stadium. After looking around the arena, the guests attended a teleconference between Minsk and Tashkent. The memories of those who knew the Pakhtakor players in 1979 brought tears to their eyes. Ahmad Ubaydullayev, a veteran of the Tashkent team, shared, “On August 10th, it was the last time I saw the guys at the training base. Anatoly Mogilny and I were injured, so we had an independent training session and left the Pakhtakor base. On the morning of August 11th, we found out about the tragedy… Forty-five years have passed since then, but the pain does not go away. I grew up with many of the guys and we played together. I remember when we all dreamt of playing for Pakhtakor. In those days, when we were just serving balls, 50-60 thousand people would gather at the stadium. Fans loved the team very much, even idolised them, and the players treated their fans the same way. When the players were invited to play for other clubs, they chose not to transfer because they were patriots of their team and country.”

The ‘unplayed match’ between Pakhtakor and Dinamo Minsk took place 45 years after the tragedy      Ilya Shvedlo 

The news of the tragedy shocked the players of Dinamo Minsk. Reflecting on August 1979, Liudas Rumbutis recalled that there had been no such accidents before, and initially, the players simply did not understand what had happened, “The realisation that something terrible had happened came later. It was a complete shock to all of us. We were on friendly terms with some players and played together for the national team. In general, the Soviet football was like that: it did not matter which team a player represented — everyone would hug before the game, fight hard during the match, and wish each other good luck afterwards. This tragedy affected us greatly.”  
Marat Kabayev, a former Pakhtakor football player and one of the organisers of the memorial match in Minsk, noted that he had played in the team for about ten years and felt it was his duty to honour the memory of the players who died in the plane crash, “That football team showed a modern, original, technical game and, of course, it remained in the hearts of the fans. On the day when the tragedy happened, people went out into the streets in Tashkent — there were flows of people. People’s love remains forever.”  
Veterans of Dinamo Minsk shared stories related to the team and its players. Thus, Vladimir Kurnev recounted how he joined the Tashkent team at the invitation of head coach Aleksandr Kochetkov and why his student ID card was found at the crash site. Anatoly Baidachny recalled Mikhail An, one of Pakhtakor’s leaders, whom he first met in the USSR youth national team. He admitted that it was painful to recall the guys they fought alongside to uphold the honour of the country, and expressed gratitude for keeping their memory. They thanked the organisers and the families of the deceased players for this tribute. 
Of course, the score was not important in the match at the Dinamo-Yuni stadium. What mattered most was that the veterans of the two teams and those touched by the tragedy came together to remember the players of Pakhtakor. Strengthened by the DMedia players, the teams showed a great game in which there were no losers — 6:6. 

By Tatiana Pastushenko