The 1990–91 Soviet Cup was cup competition of the Soviet Union. The winner of the competition CSKA Moscow qualified for the continental tournament. Teams from Lithuania and Georgia withdrew from all of the Soviet competitions.
Although Georgian teams withdrew from the Football Federation of the Soviet Union at the end of 1989, except for FC Dynamo Sukhumi due to the Russian occupation of Abkhazia (Abkhazia conflict), they were included in the cup competition and awarded technical losses.
The Lithuanian clubs, even though they have withdrawn from most of the Soviet Union competitions, competed at the 1990 Baltic League which was a temporary compromise between the Baltic states and the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, Lithuanian Zalgiris without its agreement was included in the competition and was awarded a technical loss.
In addition to Lithuanian and Georgian clubs Neftçi PFK which was eliminated by FC Rotor Volgograd on July 17, 1989, never again participated in the Soviet Cup thereafter.
Beside the Abkhazia conflict and the already ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh War in the Caucasus region, number of other places of the falling apart Soviet Union were engulfed in armed conflicts during the time span of the competition such as the Transnistrian War in late 1990 and the 1991 January Events in Lithuania.
In July of 1990, the New Union Treaty was proposed at the CPSU Congress.
Teams of the first and second leagues will begin the games of the 1/64 finals on April 14 using a system with elimination after the first defeat. If the match ends in a draw, then extra time is assigned - two halves of 15 minutes each. If extra time does not reveal the winner, then, in accordance with FIFA Regulations, the best team is determined using penalty kicks. In competitions for the USSR Cup, no more than three players are allowed to be replaced during the game.
All teams in the 1/64 finals are distributed by lot and the “home team” of the field received odd numbers, and in the 1/32 finals, the venues for the games are determined by the difference in receptions and departures between the meeting teams. Teams that have traveled in the previous round have an advantage. In case of equality of receptions and departures, the venues for the next games are determined by lot. The games of this round are held on May 2.
In the 1/16 finals, according to the Cup grid, 16 teams of the major league meet with the winners of the 1/32 final pairs (May 22), and in the first games of the 1/16 finals, the “hosts” of the field in all 16 pairs are the winning teams of the pairs 1/32 finals, and in the return matches (July 19-20) their rivals, the major league teams, play on their own fields. The stages of 1/16 and 1/8 finals are played in two games - on your own field and on the opponent's field. For the first games of the 1/8 finals, the “home” fields are determined by lot. The matches of this stage will take place on November 17-18 and 23-24.
The winners of the pairs of 1/16 and 1/8 finals are determined by the overall result of both games according to the UEFA rules approved for European cup tournaments of club teams. The quarter-final, semi-final and final games will take place next year.
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All games took place on April 14, 1990.
Games took place on May 2, 1990. Daugava Riga and Lokomotiv Moscow received bye to this stage.
First games took place on May 22, 1990, while second games were initially scheduled on July 18–21. With the Soviet Union falling apart some games were played much later.
First games took place on November 11–13, 1990, while most second games were played on November 17. Both games of Shinnik and Lokomotiv match up were played in March 1991. Lokomotiv Moscow was drawn with Shinnik as a member of the 2nd tier, but played its legs already as a member of the 1st tier.
Both games took place on 10 May 1991.