In Spain, the conflict between striker “Albacete” Roman Zozule and fans of “Rayo Vallecano”, who blamed him for the nationalists, is not abating. The Ukrainian held a large press conference at which he gave his explanation for the ambiguous photos that previously appeared on social networks. However, his excuses only made the radical part of the fan community even more angry.

“Each explanation individually is credible. The problem is that such things happen to the same person. Either he is the most unhappy guy in the world, because the Nazi stars are opposed to him, or he is just a liar, ”wrote one of the fans.

Most fans did not believe in the truth of the words of Zozuli.

“If this guy is not a Nazi supporter, then I’m Napoleon,” another user of social networks joked.

Famous Russian journalist and commentator Vasily Utkin joined the criticism of the football player. He emphasized that the actions of Zozuli characterize him as not the most distant person.

“I don’t know what kind of footballer Roman Zozulya is, I don’t support any persecution and I am deeply indifferent to questions of domestic policy of Ukraine, as well as the self-consciousness of Spanish fans - leftists, but the person in this photo (with a score of 14:88) has written in capital letters on his forehead : “I'm [a fool],” Utkin wrote in his Telegram channel.

The incident occurred in mid-December as part of the match of the 20th round of the Segunda. From the first minutes of the match, the fans of Rayo Vallecano, known for their leftist views, began to insult the Ukrainian, calling him a neo-Nazi. The reason for this was the numerous photographs in which he appears with a portrait of Bandera, then points to a scoreboard with a score of 14:88. In addition, the attacker does not hide that he is transferring money for the needs of the Ukrainian army in Donetsk and Lugansk.

The main referee Jose Antonio Lopez Toka had to interrupt the meeting, but then it was canceled at all, as teammates decided to support the player and not return to the field after the break. Vice-president of the Castilian club Victor Varela said that the player was extremely sensitive to what was happening and even cried in the locker room.

In support of Zozuli were not only colleagues and football functionaries from Spain and Ukraine, but also politicians. So, President Vladimir Zelensky turned to him on his Facebook page.

“Roman Zozulya, not only your team supports you, all of Ukraine supports you! You are not only a cool football player, you are a real patriot who loves his country and helps our military. We are with you! I shake my hand! ”- wrote the head of state.

At first, his agent spoke on behalf of the attacker, and a few days later he himself spoke publicly. Zozulya did not dispute the authenticity of the photographs, but noted that they supposedly had nothing to do with Nazism.

“I'm just a football player and patriot of my country, but I have no political ideas. I am called a racist, but my best friend in Albacete is Jeremy Bela (black team striker. - RT ). For me, people are not divided by color, all races are one. You can ask my partners for any of the Spanish teams that I played in, ”said Zozulya at a press conference.

He emphasized that his foundation, first of all, sponsors hospitals in which they help not only the wounded Ukrainian military, but also sick children. In his opinion, every patriot of his country should do so.

In addition, the striker explained the origin of each controversial photo, on the basis of which Spanish fans made conclusions about his connection with the right movement. In particular, it was a photograph in which a football player is depicted with a scarf on which the face of the leader of Ukrainian nationalists Stepan Bandera is embroidered.

“They showed me this photo and said that I look like him with my face and hairstyle. So I decided to put it on my Facebook with the signature “Looks like?”. She carried no political or nationalist connotation. But I emphasize that 10 years ago Bandera was recognized as a hero of Ukraine, ”Zozulya added.

In February 2017, the Rayo Vallecano fan group thwarted the forward's transfer from Betis. Fans said they did not want to see a person with nationalist views in the ranks of their team, and even staged protests. Zozulya emphasized that he was trying to start a dialogue with them, but was refused.