Surkis: I respect Hamburg fans, but these protests are unfair. Dynamo has never been known for discriminatory behavior in its history

Hamburg fans unhappy with German club’s cooperation with Kyivians

President Dynamo Igor Surkis commented on the protests of Hamburg fans, who criticized the German club for collaborating with the Kiev team.

Hamburg fans claimed that Kyiv fans have right-wing tendencies. Let us recall that Dynamo will hold home matches of the Europa League at the Volksparkstadion stadium in Hamburg.

“I was very surprised by these protests. I respect the fans of Hamburg, but these protests are unfair. Football club Dynamo Kyiv has never in its history been seen in discriminatory behavior towards anyone, including football players, club employees and ordinary fans. In addition, I believe that our club has been an example of a multicultural football society for many years. Representatives of South America, Africa, Asia and various European countries have played and play in the Dynamo team.”

“All former Dynamo players speak warmly and respectfully of the time spent in Kyiv, recalling these times with the attention and care that they were surrounded with at our club. Moreover, Dynamo has repeatedly participated in public campaigns to combat racial discrimination. In particular, the slogan Say no to racism was placed right in the center of our team’s jerseys for several seasons.”

“There were isolated incidents at the stadiums related to the behavior of a very small number of fans. But they do not reflect the position of the club and its efforts to ensure tolerance and equality! As we have already said: for more than 25 years, the Dynamo football club has been actively involved in the public life of our country, implementing numerous social and humanitarian projects aimed at supporting children, people with disabilities, people affected by the war, as well as disadvantaged groups of the population.”

“That is why I believe that all accusations against Dynamo Kyiv regarding racial discrimination are unfair, they do not correspond to reality in any way, since for our club the concept of humanity and tolerance always comes first. In cases of such isolated incidents, our club always contacts law enforcement agencies and conducts a personal investigation. Fortunately, they are not so frequent.”

Let us recall that on November 10, 2019, the match of the 14th round of the UPL Shakhtar – Dynamo (1:0) was suspended for some time due to racist chants from Kyiv fans towards the Miners’ players. After returning to the field, the referee of the match Nikolai Balakin sent off Taison due to the midfielder demonstrating his middle finger to Dynamo fans.

The ultras group White Boys Club Dynamo explained their behavior by their participation in the movement “Save the Spotted Owls”. During the match, they allegedly imitated the sounds of these birds, not monkeys.

The UAF Control and Disciplinary Committee punished Dynamo with a match in empty stands and a fine of 500 thousand hryvnia for racist behavior by fans in the game against Shakhtar.

The incident in Kharkiv was not the first punishment for Dynamo under the article on racism and discrimination. In 2017, the Kyiv club was punished with a match without spectators for the banner “100% white” as part of the ultras’ “White Shiza” campaign, when fans were at the match in white clothes and white masks.

On September 25, Dynamo will host Lazio in Hamburg in the first round of the 2024/25 Europa League. The match will kick off at 22:00. The match will be refereed by Greek referee Tasos Sidiropoulos.

Source: Sportarena

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