Shakhtar’s general director announced the special role of his club, representing the country in the Champions League
CEO Shakhtar Sergei Palkin spoke about the survival of Ukrainian football, the unbending national spirit and the important mission of his club in the international arena.
“I’m very proud. When the war started, we didn’t think about football for weeks and questioned everything. Will the club even exist? After a few weeks, we realized that if we stopped now, it would be incredibly difficult to ever get Ukrainian football going again. But we are talking about more…”
“It was and remains important to show the whole world, Putin and the Russian people, that Ukraine and Ukrainian football are alive and that we are not giving up either.”
“We, as Champions League participants, have a role to play: we continue to tell the story of this war of aggression and can collect donations or help with taxes on transfer payments. Then we think about sporting success.”
“In war, everyone is obliged to help Ukraine, no matter how. And if everyone does this, we will win this war too.”
Previously, Palkin failed to be elected to the board of the European Clubs Association (ECA). One of the points of his program dedicated to the development of football in Europe was to change the structure of solidarity payments in favor of leagues that operate in unfavorable economic models.
Shakhtar takes first place in the Ukrainian Championship after seven rounds. In the opening round of the Champions League, the Miners lost to Porto in Hamburg – 1:3. In the second round, Shakhtar will play away against Antwerp. Then the champion of Ukraine will have to meet with Barcelona.
In the early hours of February 24, 2022, Russia launched rocket and air strikes on most Ukrainian cities and then launched a full-scale military invasion. The war against Russia has continued for the 574th day.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
