In the basement of Lviv, in western Ukraine, the players of Rukh and Metalist Kharkiv kill time as best they can. Some type the discussions in small groups around a small coffee while others have their noses on their smartphones. Everyone is waiting for the green light from the referees to get out of the small air-raid shelter located a stone’s throw from the Ukrainia stadium and resume the match where they left off. A few minutes earlier, a siren sounded as they played their first meeting of the season, after eight months of forced interruption following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the loudspeakers of the stadium, this message: “Warning! Attention ! Aerial alarm! We ask everyone to follow us to the refuge”. Warned of the risk of a Russian missile strike, the Ukrainian authorities had no other choice but to shelter all these little people. In total, this ballet will be repeated three times and the match, which started at 3 p.m., will end 4:30 hours later, around 7:30 p.m., with the victory (2-1) of Metalist Karkhiv. This scene is set to repeat itself almost everywhere in the regions where football has regained its rights, by decision of the Ministry of Sports.
This is the price to be paid by the players to be able to exercise their profession again. “If the air alert lasts less than 40 minutes, the match can resume. If it lasts longer, it will be replayed another day. The safety of both teams comes first”, explains Igor Oks, the press officer of FC Chernomorets (1st division). While Lviv and kyiv are now spared the brunt of the fighting – which is why the bulk of Ukrainian Premier League games will be played in these two regions – the threat of a Russian attack still looms.
Bringing a little joy to the Ukrainian people
“No place is really 100% safe right now in Ukraine. And we know that the resumption of the championship can be perceived by Moscow as a provocation and that the stadiums could become obvious targets for the Russian army, relates Andrew Todos, an Anglo-Ukrainian journalist based in London. But let’s say that the safest means of defense in the country are located in these two regions. Despite everything, the government had to put in place security measures around the meetings. “Obligation to have an air-raid shelter less than 500 m from the stadium, therefore, but also a match behind closed doors and validation upstream, on a case-by-case basis, by the military authorities of the holding or not of the meetings.
Despite this protocol, the players and the staff are happy to be able to tread the lawn again. “The players are doing really well, they are very excited about this recovery, assures Igor. They had been waiting for it for a long time. There is a very friendly atmosphere within the team. “They are happy to be able to do their job again and to be able to contribute to offering a little joy and entertainment to the Ukrainian people”, engages the journalist. The decision of the Ministry of Sports to resume the championship is unanimously welcomed in the country. For a simple reason, according to FC Chernomorets press officer.
“Ukrainians need positive emotions more than ever. However, football is the number 1 sport in Ukraine and, for millions of people, it is a great celebration to be able to watch the matches on TV again. Especially for soldiers. And then, taking back the championship even though we are at war is a sign that we are alive and undefeated. »
” Life must continue “
“As top athletes, footballers have been exempted from military service, they have not taken part in the defense of the country and I think they see this return to competition as a kind of duty, of responsibility vis-à-vis those who are fighting on the front lines against the Russian invader”, adds Andrew Todos. “We will be eternally grateful to our army and all our defenders,” confirms Oks. The heroism of our soldiers is the main reason why we have the opportunity to play football again. »
This football comeback after eight months of war marks in a way the last part of a return to (almost) normal life. “It no longer resembles what the first months of the war were like, especially in kyiv, with the firing of missiles and the advance of Russian troops. Today, people go out again, they go to the cafe, to the cinema, testifies Andrew Todos. Life must continue. It’s also a way of showing the Russians that they won’t prevent us from living. “Football as a weapon of propaganda, nothing new under the sun in short. This is what prompted the government of Volodymyr Zelensky to keep the matches on Ukrainian soil and not abroad, as Shakhtar Donetsk had proposed, which will play its Champions League matches in Warsaw ( Poland).
For the Ukrainian government, it is a message of resistance sent to Putin and his henchmen. Quit risking reprisals. “It is absolutely clear that the football stadium is civilian property, warns Igor Oks. There are no weapons, military vehicles or soldiers of any kind around the grounds. So if they attack us at the stadium, it will be more proof that the Russian army is killing civilians in Ukraine”. Aware that attacking football is also attacking Europe (Shakhtar is qualified for the C1, Dynamo kyiv for the C3), not sure, however, that Vladimir Putin takes the risk of openly relaunching the conflict with the whole continent.
Shakhtar stripped of its Brazilian colony
Speaking of Shakhtar, it is still worth wondering what this championship will look like under high security when two teams are officially missing: FC Mariupol, whose city has gone under the Russian flag, and Desna Tchernihiv , which saw its land disappear under a Russian rocket. From a level point of view, we can think that the teams will all be more or less on an equal footing. With the flight of its Brazilian colony, Shakhtar is now made up almost entirely of young Ukrainian players and will have to fight on equal terms with the other teams in the country. On the European scene, it’s hard to imagine him performing with such an inexperienced group.
He may then be able to count on the revengeful spirit of his troops, he who today has a grudge against FIFA after the announcement of the body to extend by one year the possibility for foreign players to play freely. , in the form of a loan, for another team. This is the case for example of Tetê, who joined OL at the end of last season. According to New York Times, The Lyonnais had finally agreed with their Shakhtar counterparts for a permanent transfer of the Brazilian against the sum of 15 million euros, before the decision of FIFA came to turn everything upside down. From now on, OL would only offer three million for the player.
” It’s ridiculous. They’re giving us peanuts!, choked Sergei Palkin, general manager of Shakhtar Donetsk in the New York Times. It is not respectful on the part of FIFA and the clubs. They only talk about the football family. But in real life, there is no football family. »
Contacted by our American colleagues, the Lyonnais dispute the version of the facts given by Palkin but refused to provide more details. While waiting to see how this matter will be settled, the club must prepare for a season that promises to be long and complicated. It will be for all the teams, moreover, like FSC Mariupol, the second club in the city, relocated to the Ukrainian capital.
With just ten players making it to their new base camp on the outskirts of Kyiv, the club have had to supplement their squad with youngsters from other clubs across the country, including the conflict-torn Donetsk region. It is ultimately the president of FSC Mariupol who best sums up the current situation of Ukrainian football: “Currently, the most important thing is to participate”.