When football becomes an afterthought. Roman Bezoes will play with KAA Gent tomorrow evening for a place in the final in the cup, but he has his head and heart with his home country. He is the first Ukrainian footballer in Belgium to talk extensively about the Russian invasion affecting his loved ones. “I’ve cried incessantly for days, my tears are gone.” A monologue.
“I’m not your normal Roman Bezoes right now.”
“Football is my great love. But when I did training exercises in the past few days, I started to cry. I have been doing that continuously since the outbreak of the war. My tears are now gone. I cry because I realize that my friends and family in Ukraine going through a terrible war and I can do nothing to help them.”
“Yet I want to talk about it in this interview – I do that straight from the heart. It is already difficult to express myself about the situation in my own language. In English it is certainly not easier, but I hope that I might push some people to do something for Ukraine.”
“In my homeland, civilians – even children – are being killed. Bombs are falling from the sky and innocent people are being shot at. All by one man. I hope that Europe, the United States and the rest of the world find solutions to kill Vladimir Putin fuses.”
“I have friends and family in several Ukrainian cities. They have to hide with their children when the sirens start blaring. The situation is dire at times. I have a friend who is in the last weeks of her pregnancy and has to sleep in an underground parking lot. .”
“I don’t know how much longer my country can keep fighting against Russia. Really, the soldiers of our army are heroes – I cannot express in words how proud I am of them. Just like countries, such as Belgium, who give us military aid And also the ordinary people who make small or large donations: Ukraine is grateful to everyone for the support.”
Everyone must understand that this is not just a struggle of Ukraine, but of the whole world.
“You know, actually in the past I kept as far away from politics as possible. (laughter) I was even a little bit against our president. I thought he wasn’t doing a good job, but now I have to apologize to him. It’s great what battle he is currently fighting.”
“Everyone must understand that this is not just a fight of Ukraine against Russia, but of the whole world. Who says Putin will stop at my homeland? He has nuclear bombs and no one can predict what he will do next. God is now giving us a chance to change the situation.”
“I pray that after the war we can build a better world together, of which Ukraine can be a part. One in which we don’t think about how we can build an atomic bomb or more powerful missile, but spend money on what really matters. Like the climate problems and the living situation of the people.”
“To conclude I can only say: Glory to Ukraine!“
Watch the full interview with Roman Bezoes
