Top 10 scandals in the history of sports

The Death Match – Nazis vs FC Start, 1942

A statue showing a Ukrainian player defeating IIIrd Reich eagle symbol. On August 9, 1942, 45.000 FC Start, a team made up of former Dynamo Kiev freed from a prisoner camp, beat FlakElf, a team made up of Luftwaffe soldiers and pilots 5-3.

When Hitler’s German forces invaded Eastern Europe in 1942, they landed in the Ukrainian city of Kiev. As they proclaimed themselves the new rulers, they also realized that they didn’t have the manpower to control such a vast population. And so, Nazi Major General Eberhardt decided to appease the people by organizing a football match between a team of Germans and FC Start.

The Ukrainians (who were former Dynamo Kiev players) were not match fit during the war but they still led the game 1-0 at half time. At this point, seeing that his plan and pride was falling apart, Eberhardt threatened to execute the Start players if they didn’t lose the game. But the team went out and beat the Germans 4-1, much to the delight of the Ukrainians at the stadium.

As word of the defeat spread, the Germans sent in tougher teams to beat while simultaneously not allowing Dynamo Kiev to train and also cutting their rations. But that did not deter them as they beat a Nazi team 6-0, a Hungarian professional team 5-1 and then again 3-2 in a matter of days. They then beat an unbeaten team from Flakelf 3-2 in a stadium filled only with Nazi soldiers, in spite of repeated threats to lose of pay with their lives.

Finally, a Gestapo officer told them that they would play one more game against another German team called Rukh. It was their last chance to lose and the Kiev players did not know what to expect after the game. But to them, their pride was more important than their lives and when the final whistle went, they had won the game 8-0 after literally playing the biggest match of their lives.

Two days after the game, the players were arrested by the Gestapo, after which they were either tortured or executed in German concentration camps. Today, it is known as the ‘Death Match’ and there is even a statue in Kiev which pays homage to these brave football players who stood up to the Nazis.