Thursday, December 17, 2009

Soviet Stars Go West


Imagine winning $100,000 and only being able to spend $50 a day.
That's what happened in 1988 when a Soviet doubles tennis team won at Wimbledon. Under the Soviet system, they were only allowed to spend about $50 a day in England.

This may soon change. We may soon see many Soviet stars in several fields allowed to market their talents in the West.

A new venture, called Moscovy Management International, will soon be negotiating on behalf of Soviet scientists, artists, actors, performers, fashion models and sports stars. The venture aims to help the stars retain more of their money and market their talents freely.

Gary Kasparov, world chess champion, will almost certainly be one of the stars involved in this venture. He is a key figure in the move to bring Soviet talent to the West, and was one of the first to gain more control over his own career.

Canadians will be especially interested in luring the best ice-hockey stars to their teams. And basketball teams in America will be taking a closer look at the Soviet Olympic basketball teams.

The Soviet Union is the only country ever to have beaten the United States at basketball in the Olympics, in 1972 and again in 1988.

More Soviet sports stars in the West will add to the growing internationalization of sports.

- By Tim Finlay


Taken from
Youth 90 magazine

No comments:

Post a Comment