The conflict between Russia and Ukraine was invited to the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Roman Yaremchuk celebrated Benfica’s equalizing goal against Ajax (2-2, round of 16 first leg) by wearing a T-shirt stamped with the Ukrainian national emblem. The Lisbon striker admitted, a few moments later, at the microphone of CNN Portugalto “fear for his country” given the escalation of tensions between the two nations. His selection partner Oleksandr Zinchenko was more vindictive on his social networks by attacking the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin directly, wishing him a death in excruciating pain.
Ukraine, faced with the critical situation, has decided to put football on hold. The Ukrainian Premier League, which was due to resume this weekend after a long winter break, is suspended until further notice. “Due to the imposition of martial law in Ukraine, the Ukrainian championship has been suspended”, can we read on the official press release of the local League. Following the publication of this news, the Brazilian players of Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev, a sacred colony, published a video to ask for help from the government of Jair Bolsonaro to be able to leave a country which is preparing for the worst.
Championship suspended, what about the World Cup play-offs?
Mircea Lucescu, coach of Dynamo, reacted to the Romanian media. “I’m just waiting to see what happens. On Saturday we were due to play against 14th-placed Inhulets Petrove in Kyiv, but let’s see what the emergency is. The Minister of Youth and Sports has suspended all sporting events for 30 days… Parliament has ratified the state of emergency, it is clear that we are not playing yet. Let’s see how long this madness lasts. (…) The players are a little scared… so… normal… for their families… We don’t have many foreigners, it’s worse for teams with a lot of foreigners because their embassies, of course, ask them to leave the country”he confided, explaining that he would remain in Ukraine.
A critical situation therefore and football is obviously the least of the worries in this moment of extreme gravity. Still, in a month, Russia and Ukraine will play their play-off for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The first will challenge Poland in a context that we imagine very tense. The second, quarter-finalists of the last Euro, will be opposed to Scotland. But what state will they be in, both physically and psychologically, for this crucially important meeting in a player’s career? In the longer term, the question of the Champions League final arises.
Saint Petersburg was to host the event next May. But given the geopolitical and military context, the European Union is currently putting pressure on UEFA to withdraw the final from Russia. Wembley would already be a candidate. Only, the governing body of European football finds itself faced with a dilemma, Gazprom, Russian oil giant, being one of its main sponsors, and its executive director Alexander Dyukov, being a member of its executive committee. In politics as in football, Europe is on the verge of a nervous breakdown…
