“Another view is unacceptable”: how Kryvbas coaches lost their jobs for the lack of a pro-Ukrainian position

"The club will not turn a blind eye and justify anyone"

The Ukrainian FC Kryvbas announced the dismissal of coaches Vitaliy Vytsenets and his assistant Stanislav Dyachenko on its official website by publishing a special statement.

In it, both specialists were accused of lacking a “clear and unequivocal pro-Ukrainian position” in relation to the situation in the country.

“A different view of what is happening ... is unacceptable, there is simply no other position for Kryvbas.

The club will not turn a blind eye and justify anyone.

We are convinced that those who have a different opinion have no place in the large family of Kryvbas,” the text says.

At the same time, it is not specified what exactly the coaches of the club academy were guilty of.

It is only noted that the decision was made taking into account the stated position.

According to Artyom Gagarin, Vice-President of Kryvyi Rih, for them now there is only “black” and “white”, but not “gray”.

“If even this war has not changed them, nothing will change.

Our paths diverged.

We are looking for a new U-19 coach.

We can calmly look into the eyes of our ultras, who are fighting in different points of the front, our soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the fans, ”quotes the functionary of Profootball Digital.

According to local media, Vitsenets, who was born in the Dnepropetrovsk region, was not marked by controversial statements.

However, after the proclamation of the DPR, he repeatedly visited Donetsk, where he still had an apartment.

In particular, it is reported that in December 2021, Vitaly met with friends there and even went sledding near the Donbass Arena.

In professional terms, there can be no complaints about mentors.

Vitsenets joined Kryvbas in September 2021 and has achieved significant success.

Under his leadership, the U-19 youth team rose to first place in the second division of the Ukrainian Championship of its age and won it thanks to the early stop of the tournament.

Ahead of the young mentor was a debut in the Premier League.

Prior to Kryvbas, Vitaliy worked for several years with the youth teams of Shakhtar.

He was forced to switch early to coaching due to severe injuries.

At the same time, the central midfielder was considered one of the country's most promising football players of his generation.

In 2009, together with the youth team of Ukraine, he won the championship of the U-19 continent.

He also played 15 matches for the youth team.

Everything was promising in his native Shakhtar, of which the athlete is a pupil.

In the early 2010s, the coaching staff gradually let him go to the base.

Together with the Pitmen, Vitaliy became the champion of Ukraine twice and won the Cup once.

Moreover, in the 2010/11 season, the midfielder even had several meetings in the Champions League.

He also managed to play on loan for two other teams from the Donbass (Lugansk Zorya and Mariupol Illichivets), as well as for Sevastopol.

A knee injury put an end to Vicenza's career, which put him out of action for more than two years.

Vitaly's last team was Mariupol, after which he finally hung up his boots.

It is curious that the well-known Ukrainian coach Yuriy Vernidub, under whose leadership Sheriff Tiraspol created a sensation in the last Champions League, can lead the main team of Kryvbas on the eve of the start of the UPL.

It is reported that in the spring the specialist left the team and joined the ranks of the defense, and in June he stopped cooperation with the club.

Vitsenets is not the first figure in Ukrainian football to suffer for the lack of a clear political position.

So, in April, the former Dynamo Kyiv striker Viktor Leonenko was fired from the Futbol TV channel.

The company was dissatisfied with the expert's words about Russian athletes.

He did not condemn them for their silence and suggested that athletes are simply afraid to speak their mind.

“When politicians get involved in sports, not only in civilian life, then there is no more sports.

Russian athletes will now only play at home.

I don't think they are to blame.

What to take from us?

— admitted the commentator.

After only a couple of days, he lost his job.

The general director of the TV channel Alexander Denisov announced the dismissal of a specialist in social networks.

“All his statements in an interview are just his position.

To justify silence is beyond cynicism.

The Football channel then ended its cooperation with Leonenko, ”Denisov wrote.

“Politics all around.

Appropriate attitude towards coaches”

As for the dismissal of Vytsenets and Dyachenko from Kryvbas, the experts interviewed by RT were not surprised.

Thus, Mikhail Gershkovich, head of the Association of Domestic Trainers, believes that employees in Ukraine are now being assessed not by their professional qualities.

“Everything there is amazing.

It is clear that people in the country are approached not from the point of view of professionalism and the principle of sports.

Politics all around.

Appropriate attitude towards coaches.

They are not judged by how they work.

This is an absolutely incomprehensible story.

But, frankly, I don't care what happens to Ukrainian specialists.

I care first of all about ours, ”said the functionary.

He also stressed that in Russia, the termination of the contract for a controversial political position is unimaginable.

“People can defend their rights here.

This is a completely different approach, and it makes no sense to compare with Ukraine.

You can see for yourself what is happening there.

I have always had one position: in any kind of activity, professional qualities should come to the fore.

And let them do what they want,” Gershkovich added.

In turn, the well-known coach Rinat Bilyaletdinov supported his colleagues and admitted that he had never encountered anything like this in his entire long career.

“If a manager wants to fire a person, he will find a reason, even if, according to the sports principle, he does not deserve it.

Here you can recall both political preferences and moral character.

I can only sympathize with Vicenz and his assistant.

It is a pity that people are deprived of the opportunity to demonstrate their professional skills on political issues, ”the specialist complained.

However, he also did not find anything surprising in what happened.

In his opinion, the act of the leadership of "Kryvbas" is fully consistent with the trends of the times.

“We used to say: “Oh, sport, you are the world.”

But now this slogan has nothing to do with reality.

This wave, alas, swept both the IOC and the international federations.

The times when politics had nothing to do with sports are gone, and we don’t know yet if they will return,” Bilyaletdinov summed up.