 In reality, communist authorities had become uneasy after the LTC Praha (LTC Prague) club team had suffered defections at the 1948 Spengler Cup in Davos, the death of six national team players in a plane crash a few months before the 1949 World Ice Hockey Championships, and the defection of former national hockey team player (and future Wimbledon tennis champion) Jaroslav Drobný in June 1949.The authorities arrested several members of the 1950 national team while they were awaiting their delayed flight at the Prague Airport.On 7 October 1950, the players appeared in court charged with espionage and were named "state traitors."