By Mark Baber
July 16 – President of FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Rinat Akhmetov (pictured) has declared that a possible Ukrainian-Russian joint football league should be advantageous, first and foremost, to Ukrainian football.
Akhmetov is the wealthiest man in Ukraine, with interests in the energy and steel sectors, as well as being a former legislator. He has been responsible for building a new stadium for Shakhtar Donetsk, but in his latest comments on the possibility of a new CIS league he stresses that any such move would have to be to the long-term benefit of Ukrainian football.
“What is the joint league? From a financial point of view, it’s probably advantageous. From the point of view of entertainment, it’s advantageous. From the point of view of competitiveness, it’s advantageous,” Akhmetov was quoted by his club website as saying to reporters during a team training session at the Donbass Arena stadium on Friday.
“The champions and runners-up of this tournament will qualify for the Champions League and the Europa League. And regarding what Ukrainian football in general needs, I want to listen to every Ukrainian fan. If it’s advantageous to Ukrainian football, not just to Shakhtar, Shakhtar will support it! If Ukrainian football finds the joint league advantageous, we will follow the rules. Therefore the question of whether the league should exist or not shouldn’t be addressed to me.”
Akhmetov put the ball firmly in the court of the Football Federation of Ukraine in deciding the best way forward saying:
“We need a full discussion. I’ve just mentioned the pros, but we have to consider the cons. There’s always a minus where there’s a plus. The same happens in life, so everything is weighed and a decision is made. As a result, we’re either proud of this decision or ashamed of it. I want to be proud of this decision so that later, in five, 10 or 15 years, they don’t say that Rinat made a decision that was advantageous to Shakhtar but disadvantageous to Ukrainian football, and that it destroyed the latter.
“I don’t want to get into this story. I serve Ukrainian football and want it to progress. Even if today it’s advantageous to us and disadvantageous to Ukrainian football, we’ll act as Ukrainian football requires. That’s our position, my personal position, and the position of the Shakhtar football club.”
Whilst Akhmetov’s comments have been misinterpreted as “calling for the creation of a joint soccer league with Russians” it is clear that he is saying that any such move must be in the interests of Ukrainian football as a whole.
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