The Soviet Union national bandy team represented the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

. It was controlled by the

Federation of bandy and field hockey USSR Federation of bandy and field hockey USSR (Russian: Федерация хоккея с мячом и хоккея на траве СССР) was the governing body for the sports of bandy and field hockey in the Soviet Union. The federation was gov ...

. Even if bandy was a popular sport domestically in the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union did not compete in any internationals back then. Agreements were made to play friendlies against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the late 1940s, but the plans did not come to realization. However, after having seen Finland, Norway and Sweden playing bandy at the Winter Olympics in Oslo in 1952, the Soviet Union invited these three countries to a

four nation bandy tournament in 1954 Four nation bandy tournament in 1954 was a tournament of friendlies played in Moscow, Soviet Union, in February 1954, contested by Finland, Norway, the Soviet Union and Sweden. Sweden won the tournament. The Soviet Union invited the other three cou ...

. This was the first time a Soviet national bandy team met other national bandy teams. The four countries used somewhat different rules prior to this tournament, but the rules were adjusted to be the same for the future. The Soviet team dominated the

Bandy World Championship The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the Wome ...

s from its start in 1957 until the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, winning the first eleven championships (biennial tournaments from 1961) and winning all but three championships that they competed in. Its place in the championship was then taken over by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Soviet Union also won the

Rossiya Tournament Rossiya or Rossija (the Romanization of the word ) may refer to: * Russia (Russian: ) * ''Rossiya'' (icebreaker), Russian icebreakers named ''Rossiya'' * ''Rossiya'' or ''Rossia'', an Imperial Russian cruiser launched in 1896 * ''Rossiya'', an Im ...

eight times in ten appearances. In 1992 this tournament had changed names to

Russian Government Cup Russian Government Cup was a tournament for national teams in bandy, arranged in Russia every other year from 1972 until 2012. The cup has not been played since 2012. When the Bandy World Championships were held every other year, this tournament w ...

and replacing the Soviet national bandy team, a bandy team representing the Commonwealth of Independent States made a one-time appearance there, also playing against the new

Russia national bandy team The Russia national bandy team represents Russia in international bandy. There is a national team for men's competitions and a Russia women's national bandy team. This article deals chiefly with the men's national bandy team. Until 1991 there w ...

References

National bandy teams

Bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

Bandy in the Soviet Union Bandy World Championship-winning countries {{USSR-sport-stub