By Paul Nicholson
July 21 – The Ukrainian national championship is still scheduled to start this week (July 25), despite fears over national security following the downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17 and the loss of 295 lives. Several international players have refused to return to the Ukraine with their clubs.
Six Shaktar Donetsk players refused to fly back to Ukraine after a friendly on Saturday which their side lost 4-1 to Lyon in the French town of Annecy. Five of the players named were Brazilians Alex Teixeira, Fred, Douglas Costa, Dentinho and Argentine Facundo Ferreyra.
It has also been reported that Metalist Kharkiv’s Argentine midfielder Sebastian Blanco refused to return to Ukraine from a training camp in Austria.
“After the Malaysian plane’s crash I have no intention to return to Ukraine,” Blanco was quoted as saying. “The situation there is currently abnormal. I decided to stay in Buenos Aires.”
Ukraine Football Federation (FFU) spokesman Pavel Ternovoi said: “The entire country mourns over the tragedy that happened. It’s terrible. But it will not influence the national championship kick off. We insist that football should stay out of politics.”
The FFU has already bowed to the inevitable and cut Crimea-based PFC Sevastopol and FC Tavriya from the 2014-15 season of the Ukrainian Premier League. The move follows the reunification of the Crimea with Russia following a disputed referendum in March.
Last week UEFA said that Russian and Ukrainian clubs would be kept apart in the European club championship draw for this season’s Champions League, but were allowing the Ukrainian teams to play home games despite fears over the security situation in the country – that decision was made before the Malaysian Airliner was brought down, apparently by pro-Russian separatists.
Zenit and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will be kept apart in the Champions League third qualifying round draw. But after assessing the security situation in the country, the UEFA Emergency Panel has decided to allow Dnipro and Chornomorets Odessa to play their UEFA club competition matches at home, in spite of Odessa having recently seen a massacre in which Ukrainian ultras were implicated.
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