The systemic transformation in Poland was part of globalization. Although this process has many positive virtues, Polish transformation was happening sort of besides the globalization, because it often didn’t include its crucial requirements and mechanisms. Poland didn’t work out a consistent, properly functioning model of economy. Systemic transformation of the economy enabled to reduce the civilization gap in relation to The West. On the other hand, it also caused a lot of problems. It led to ineffective privatization, monopolies in the economy and problems regarding a working institutional infrastructure in the country.
In 1956, the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne coincided with the Hungarian Revolution, an attempt of the Hungarians to free themselves from the Soviet domination, eventually suppressed by an armed intervention of the Soviet Army. During the semi-final water polo match between USSR and Hungary the players came to blows. The Hungarian Ervin Zádor was punched by a Soviet team player and his blood coloured the water in the pool red. The match ultimately ended in a victory for Hungary. The main goal of the article is to describe the conflict between Hungary and the USSR which had its tragic final in a sport match at the Melbourne Olympic Games. The 1956 Olympic Games showed to what extent political conflicts are mirrored in sport. Hungarians wanted to show they were a free nation and that they would never accept the political sway of Moscow over their country.
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