The blue-and-yellows must submit their entry list for the Olympics on July 2
Head coach Olympic team of Ukraine Ruslan Rotan commented on the situation with the application for the football tournament of the Games in Paris.
Rotan said that the clubs do not make contact with the UAF and do not agree to send their players to the Olympic team. According to the coach, synchronous decisions by clubs are not a positive thing, because because of this, the national team risks losing its leaders.
“Right now there are quite difficult negotiations with clubs. There are answers about some players from foreign clubs – most of them are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. We wrote letters to Ukrainian clubs, but have not yet received official replies. I regularly communicate with coaches, directors… Unfortunately, I can say that I don’t see much desire on the part of most club representatives to help the Olympic team. The clubs have an official reason – the Olympics are not taking place on FIFA dates. But let’s not forget what times we live and play in. Let’s remember that state interests must also be taken into account.”
“Now we must understand how important it is for Dynamo to get into the main round of the Champions League. We are very worried about the prestige of the capital club, about its financial interests, so, apparently, we will not be able to ask “core” players to participate in the Olympics. But in any case, if we cannot find a compromise even on Dynamo’s reserve players and their newcomers, then it will be very difficult for me and, probably, the fans to understand.”
“Indeed, I don’t see any compelling reasons not to release players to the Olympics from a club that starts in European competition in the fall. Especially when we are talking about a club that does so much for the country outside the football field and always emphasizes its patriotism.”
“Don’t get me wrong – we have enough good players, we believe in them, we believe in the work we do. But we are very worried that the dream of an entire generation of football players is being killed before our eyes. And the fans. A year ago, we not only went to the Youth Euro, but got into the quartet of the best teams on the continent and, for the first time in the history of our country, won the right to play at the Olympics. Now we are simply snatching each of them from the clubs in order to adequately represent the country.”
“Every day football players call and write to the coaches of the Olympic team. They are expecting good news, but we cannot answer them anything yet – the clubs simply do not give official confirmation. And on July 2, we need to send an official application to participate in Ukraine’s first Olympic football tournament.”
The Ukrainian team became the winner of the Tournoi Maurice Revello tournament. Ruslan Rotan’s team defeated Indonesia U-20 (3:0) and Italy U-21 (4:0) in the group stage, defeated Panama U-23 (2:0) and Japan U-19 (2:1), and In the final they beat Cote d’Ivoire U-20 in a penalty shootout.
Let us remind you that in the second half of the summer of 2024, Ukraine will take part in the Olympic football tournament for the first time in its history. Rotan’s team won a ticket to Paris last year, reaching the semi-finals of the European Youth Championship.
The Ukrainian national team will play at the 2024 Olympics with Argentina, Morocco and Iraq. In the first round, Rotan’s team will meet the Asian team on July 24.
The UAF has already received letters from a number of foreign clubs refusing to release Ukrainians to the tournament. The Olympic team will be left without Yegor Yarmolyuk, Mikhail Mudrik, Ilya Zabarny and Ivan Zhelizko.
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.
