Sports Federation

Sports Federation 

an international or national nongovernmental organization of physical culture, physical education, or sports. The first public sports associations in the USSR were organized in 1923 and 1924, for tennis, shooting, chess, and other sports. All-Union associations in most sports popular in the USSR were established between the 1930’s and 1950’s; in 1959 they were reorganized as sports federations.

All-Union sports federations are organized by the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR and by the Central Committee of the All-Union Voluntary Society to Aid the Army, Air Force, and Navy (DOSAAF USSR). The two organizations assist the all-Union sports federations in developing physical culture

Table 1. Sports federations under the auspices of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR (1975 figures)
Sport	Founded	Membership
’Minimum figure †Approximate figure
Acrobatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1939	149,000
Alpine skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1937	27,000
Archery . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1959	10,500
Badminton . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1962	123,000
Bandy and field hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	—	300,000
Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1937	3,500,000
Biathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1957	26,000
Boxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1923	257,000
Canoeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1953	57,000
Checkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1924	2,600,000
Chess . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1924	2,800,000
Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	470,000
Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1964	7,000*
Equestrian sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1932	22,000
Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1925	46,000
Figure skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1937	40,000†
Fire fighting, sport of . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1964	1,000,000
Free exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1948	77,000
Gorodki . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	353,000
Gymnastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1932	647,000
Handball . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1956	787,700
Ice hockey . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1947	610,000
Judo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1972	100,000
Modern pentathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1952	3,600
Mountaineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	25,000*
Rowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	18,000
Rugby . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1968	5,100
Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1924	2,900,000
Skiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1926	4,000,000
Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1924	3,700,000
Speed skating . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1933	309,000
Swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	682,000
Tabletennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1950	2,300,000
Tennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1923	36,000
Tobogganing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1968	1,700
Track and field . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1928	6,000,000*
Trampolining . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1971	3,000*
Trapshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1934	27,600
Volleyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1932	5,200,000
Waterpolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1948	11,000
Waterskiing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1963	6,000t
Weight lifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1923	273,500
Wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1923	708,000
Yachting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1936	20,000

and sports on a large scale and improving the skills of athletes. All-Union sports federations include members of corresponding republic sports federations, sports societies, ministries, sports departments, and trade union and Komsomol organizations, as well as workers in physical culture and sports, athletes, and sportswriters. In 1975 there were 64 active all-Union sports federations in the USSR (see Table 1).

The Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the USSR also manages the Federation of Lecture Popularization of Physical Culture and Sports (founded 1962), the Federation of Visual Aids in Physical Culture and Sports (1961), the Federation of Sports Films (1956), the Federation of Sports Medicine (1946), and the Federation of Sportswriters (1955).

DOSAAF USSR manages several sports federations. It includes the Bureau of Federations of Aviation Sports, which has federations for airplane modeling, helicopter sports, skydiving, gliding, and airplane sports. Founded as associations in 1948, these federations were reorganized in 1959 and united in the Bureau in 1966. The Bureau has approximately 300,000 members. DOSAAF USSR also includes federations of automotive sports (founded 1960, 517,000 members), model automobile sport (1964, approximately 62,000), motorboating (1959, approximately 60,000), naval combined events (1962, approximately 83,000), military-applied combined events (1970, approximately 1,400,000), motorcycle sports (1962, 428,000), underwater sports (1959, approximately 50,000), radiosport (1959, more than 283,000), breeding of working dogs (1962, 80,000), and model ship sport (1964, more than 83,000).

All-Union sports federations direct the work of republic federations and the associations of sports societies and departments. In 1975 the USSR had 54 sports federations that were members of corresponding international sports associations.

G. M. ROGUL’SKII