Vitaly Daraselia 1957 – 1982

Biography

Vitaly Daraselia was a Soviet footballer whose career unfolded during the golden age of Eastern European athletics, when football served as both national obsession and Cold War proving ground. Born in the Georgian coastal town of Ochamchire in 1957, he emerged during an era when Soviet sports development programs cultivated talent with ruthless precision, grooming young players for glory on the international stage.

Though his playing record is preserved in Soviet football archives, Daraselia’s impact was cut devastatingly short. On December 13, 1982, at just twenty-five years old, he died in a traffic collision in Zestaponi, Georgia—a tragedy that robbed Soviet football of a rising talent during his prime competitive years. His brief career remains a poignant snapshot of that generation of Soviet athletes whose potential was shaped by their nation’s fierce sporting culture.

Daraselia’s legacy lives on in the annals of Soviet football history, a testament to an era when athletic excellence defined national identity and young men like him carried their country’s dreams on the pitch.