The confrontation between football and hockey in our country seems to last forever. Endless comparison of titles, salaries and popularity. Sometimes sports collide even at the everyday level, which leads to high-profile conflicts. The most scandalous of them was the act of hockey player Vyacheslav Fetisov, who stole his wife from the USSR national football team player Vagiz Khidiyatullin.
Love at first sight
Fetisov by the age of 24 was considered the most enviable groom among all Soviet athletes. It was still not possible to meet the same one until the hockey player was at a friend’s party — handball player Evgeny Chernyshev. Khidiyatullin's wife Lada was also invited to the party. She came with a friend, as her husband was away. the bachelor life of a hockey player. Vyacheslav did not pay any attention to her. Khidiyatullina riveted his gaze.
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“Opposite me at the table sat a very modest young man who did not say a single word for the evening and only stared without taking his eyes off. My girlfriend described him as «Olympic bear». He rarely smiled, rarely spoke, but he was extremely kind and attentive, «Lada recalled the first meeting.
Fetisov lived with the Khidiyatullin family in the same stairwell. Due to constant traveling, the hockey player had never crossed paths with Lada before. Vyacheslav liked her from the first meeting. Of course, the athlete knew perfectly well that the girl was married to a football player of the USSR national team, but he could not do anything about attraction.
The hockey player began to go to work every day to Lada with a bouquet of flowers, offering take her home. The girl did not agree, but Vyacheslav did not give up. A couple of months later, she could not resist and accepted an invitation to dinner.
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"I met Lada at that moment in my life when I needed peace of mind most of all. I really felt that she was a reliable person. I'm talking about looks in general. And when troubles began due to leaving for America, I realized that next to me was a unique woman, ”explained Fetisov.
Lada was an incredibly spectacular girl. Until the age of 16, she did gymnastics, and then focused on her creative career. She worked as a model, starred in films and commercials. By the time she met Fetisov, Lada had been married to Khidiyatullin for four years. Human. Soon she asked Vagiz for a divorce. For the footballer, this news came as a shock, he was not ready to let his wife go. Khidiyatullin made scandals, he could lock Lada in an apartment and not let him go anywhere.Absolutely everyone seemed to be against the union. Is it worth recalling how in those days they treated the novel of a married woman? Lada's parents even went to Viktor Tikhonov and asked the coach to dissuade Vyacheslav from stupid things. Even Fetisov's parents resisted.
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"Mom wanted something completely different for me, so that everything would be like people have. But when I first saw Lada, I immediately thought: "She will be mine! It doesn't matter who she is with. Such a girl should be with me. Her husband was a difficult guy, but then he gave a divorce. Once we met, Vagiz looked into my eyes. I immediately realized that this was not a game, but my destiny. He wished us happiness and left,” said Fetisov.
When the divorce was officially formalized, the life of Vyacheslav and Lada began to improve. The couple lived in a civil marriage and began to think about the wedding. However, the lovers seemed to be haunted by curses. The celebration was canceled three times due to various reasons.At first, Tikhonov did not let the CSKA players go, which is why they decided to postpone the event. A few days before the new date, Vyacheslav's grandmother died. And before another ceremony, the 18-year-old brother of the player tragically died. The death of Anatoly Fetisov hit hard on the groom, who had been depressed for a long time.
Vyacheslav returned to the question of the wedding during the most difficult period in his career. In 1989, Fetisov had a fight with CSKA, Tikhonov and intended to leave for the NHL. The coach did not want to let him go, the hockey player was under incredible pressure. Once, unknown people even called Lada and began to threaten that they would be sent to Siberia if their lover did not stay in the army club.
