Ukrainian footballers no longer have a place in Europe? At home, they were forbidden to play with Russians.

April 15, 2023 By ebwavez 0

On the morning of April 14, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine published an official order banning the country’s national teams from participating in competitions in which athletes from Russia or Belarus are present. According to the document, now the sports federations of Ukraine are obliged to monitor the participation of Russians and Belarusians in international competitions and inform the Ministry of Sports about possible intersections. In case of violation, the federation can be deprived of national status. Also, officials received the right to recall delegations from business trips to competitions where representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus participate.

How the IOC reacted

Recall that on March 31, a member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine and Minister of the Government of the country Oleg Nemchynov said that Ukrainian athletes will not be represented in the qualifying Olympic competitions with the participation of Russians. Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended allowing our athletes to enter the international arena under a neutral flag. He also published a message in response to Nemchinov’s statement:

"If this decision is implemented, it will only harm the Ukrainian sports community. We continue to say that governments should not decide which athletes can compete in international competitions. This decision also contradicts the position of a number of Ukrainian athletes and members of the Olympic community who oppose boycotts."

After the order of the Ministry of Sports of the Kiev regime, the IOC also spoke unequivocally. The press service of the organization once again stated that such a decision raises serious questions about the autonomy of Ukrainian sports and that this contradicts the position of a number of Ukrainian athletes.

"Athletes who want to compete and lose the support of their national federation and their National Olympic Committee due to government interference will be able to count on the direct support of the Olympic Movement Solidarity Fund for the Olympic Community of Ukraine and the IOC athlete support programs," the statement said.

Where are the intersections?

The order of the Kiev Ministry of Sports can become a big problem for Ukrainian football players playing in Europe. And this is even if we leave aside the question of what will happen if the Russian national team is allowed to participate in the qualification for Euro 2026.

But there are enough controversial situations at the club level. What, for example, should Marseille midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky, who plays in the same league with Alexander Golovin from Monaco, do? In Ligue 1 there is also a Ukrainian Eduard Sobol (Strasbourg).

The situation is similar in Serie A, where our Oleksiy Miranchuk (Torino) competes with Ukrainian midfielder Viktor Kovalenko (Spezia). By the way, Miranchuk, Kovalenko and Malinovsky not so long ago were teammates at Atalanta.

There is also a precedent in the German Bundesliga – ex-Dynamo Ivan Ordets defends the colors of Bochum, and Andrei Lunev is declared for Bayer. The Belgian Championship is the same story: Ukrainians Roman Yaremchuk (Club Brugge) and Oleksiy Sych (Kortrijk) are in the same league with Oleksandr Filin (Eupen). Yes, even in Cyprus there are players from Russia and Ukraine – Alexander Kokorin in “Aris” and Artem Besedin with Roman Bezus in “Omonia”.

Do not forget about the Remaining Ukrainians in the RPL – Denis Kulakov from Ural and Dmitry Ivanisen from Krylia Sovetov.

And these are examples of only more or less famous people. How will the issues of Ukrainian players playing in the same European championships with the Russians be resolved? It’s still a mystery.

But one thing is clear – politics in the minds of Kiev sports officials has finally supplanted football and other sports. And from their decisions will suffer first of all the athletes themselves.

Ukrainian footballers no longer have a place in Europe? At home, they were forbidden to play with Russians.

How the IOC reacted

Where are the intersections?

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