The Presidential Library - for the FIFA World Cup

To the World Cup, which will be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15, 2018, the Presidential Library will present several interesting projects. This was told at the press conference held in TASS by the Director General of the Presidential Library Alexander Pavlovich Vershinin.

The first of the planned projects is a new collection, the formation of which is currently under way. At the moment it has about 700 items of storage. It highlights the theme of football: from history to theory and practice. Among the presented materials - official and archival documents, books, periodicals, graphic materials, collectibles. In particular, it will be possible to get familiar with the statutes of sports societies before 1917, as well as with the first rules of the game. The chronological framework of documents - from 1852 to 2018 (on the history of sports), from 1903 to 2018 (on football). The collection is scheduled to be added regularly.

Thus, for example, the thematic selection is planned to include materials from the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the digitization of which is currently being implemented. The resources selected for digitization include the edition of 1929 "Training football teams" by M. D. Romm, as well as "Football: Eng. ball game: Guide and rules of the game" by P. Faber 1913. In addition, it is planned to digitize periodical sports publications, the earliest of which date back to 1911, the latest - 1934. In total, more than 30 units will be digitized. The collection will also include documents from the National Library of Russia, the digitization of which has already been completed by the Presidential Library. Among the publications: the earliest "Rules of the game "football"" in 1903, "The theory of the game of football "Association" by G. A. Dupperon in 1910, "Charter of the St. Petersburg football and hockey club “Merkur” in 1909 and others. In total, more than 70 units were digitized.

The portal will be also feature the book of the well-known sports journalist, football historian Yuri Lukosyak "Football: the first steps, 1860-1923: in honor of the 100th anniversary of Russian football, the birthplace of which is St. Petersburg", which presents the facts that radically change the idea of ​​the birth of Russian football. At a press conference this topic was also touched upon by Alexander Vershinin: "Football has its own interesting story. And, for example, when we discussed the results of the tournament "FIFA Confederations Cup", we were suddenly told that in general Russian football was originated in St. Petersburg. Before that, we thought that this happened in Moscow, in Orekhovo-Zuevo. But it turned out that in St. Petersburg. The first match took place in 1897 on the Vasilievsky Island, between two St. Petersburg teams".

The second project of the Presidential Library for the World Cup is an exhibition. It is planned that it will consist of three blocks: "The history of football in the Russian Federation in general and in the cities participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup", "Changes that occurred in the cities participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in connection with the championship: new sports facilities, new urban infrastructure, social events in the field of sports", "Volunteer Movement and World Cup 2018".

According to Alexander Vershinin, now the Presidential Library receives materials related to the organization and holding of the World Cup from the cities where football matches will be held. Participation in the exhibition along with the cities-organizers of the FIFA World Cup 2018 will also receive regional centers of the Presidential Library, which are already involved in this joint work.

In the future it is planned that the exhibition will be presented in the Presidential Library electronic collections in the format of a documentary film or as a three-dimensional virtual tour with the possibility of access to the description of exhibits.

In addition, the Presidential Library plans to hold major events on its site to the World Cup. It is also expected that the Presidential Library's collections will be added with unique documentary films dedicated to athletes from Karachay-Cherkessia.