Scottish Football Solidarity with Ukraine
Image: Reuters
“For me, there is no longer a country called Russia,” says Ukrainian national coach Petrakov. As long as people are dying in his homeland, he doesn’t want to think about football.
Dhe Ukrainian national soccer coach Oleksandr Petrakov currently thinks it is unimaginable that his team will play in Scotland in June. “As long as people keep dying in my home country, I can’t think about playing in Scotland,” Petrakov is quoted as saying on the industry portal insidethegames.
The play-off semi-finals for the World Cup in Qatar were supposed to have taken place in Glasgow last weekend, but the international football association FIFA postponed them to June because of the Russian war against Ukraine. In addition, Petrakov and his team are scheduled to play in the Nations League in Ireland and Scotland at the beginning of June.
He is in contact with his players, three of whom are now under contract with the Romanian club FCSB (formerly: Steaua) Bucharest. “Football has taken a back seat for them,” said 64-year-old Petrakov. He no longer wanted to have anything to do with Russians. “For me, there is no longer a country called Russia.”
