Shakhtar against FIFA, the Ukrainian football war: "If you're not against Russia, you accept all this"

• Football Life and death at Shakhtar Donetsk, from a baby born in the war to a murdered father-in-law: "We only hope Putin dies"

It has not been an easy decade for

Ukrainian

In

he left his stadium and his city due to the constant shelling of the

region and moved to

,

east of what had been his life.

The club, the players, the staff and their families moved, and since then it has been an organization without a home, gripped by an eternal conflict between

and

.

But this year things have gotten even more twisted.

The

has destroyed Ukraine, killed its soldiers, forced hundreds of thousands of citizens to emigrate, destroyed infrastructure and jeopardized the situation of the whole of Donetsk.

The Ukrainian league came to a halt at the end of February and on June 21,

that foreign players in the Ukrainian league could unilaterally terminate their contracts unless their club reached a sale agreement before the start of the match.

.

The Donetsk team could not agree on all the transfers of their foreigners in nine days and some footballers, such as the attacker

, with a market value of 18 million, left for free.

For this reason, this Thursday the directors of Shakhtar will sit against

in the

(

).

They ask

considering that Infantino's organization violated the law and demand "to be heard."

"FIFA created a special rule without talking to the Ukrainian federation, league or clubs.

And nobody listens to us, "explains

,

, to EL MUNDO, who summarizes what happened:" Before the war we bought several players and agreed with their clubs to pay the transfer in installments, as is usually done.

Now that player has gone free by FIFA rule,

, and I still owe part of the amount of his transfer.

A few days ago a team called me saying that we had to pay.

.

We are helping the soldiers and the people on a daily basis, both economically and logistically and psychologically.

This is a shame".

According to Palkin,

was "

" this summer.

"We had a lot of debt, the league stopped...", he adds.

Luckily, the Ukrainian team found the "good faith" of clubs like

,

or

, who paid for transfers for

,

or

rather than wait a few days for them to be released.

However, they helplessly lost other important players such as

, whose market values ​​exceed, in total,

.

Still, Shakhtar staged a sensational

group stage , drawing with

, beating

and qualifying for the

.

"But I don't know how the situation will be in a year if the war does not end and FIFA maintains that rule," admits Palkin, upset by the decision.

"If you are not against Russia, you accept it"

Shakhtar also wants to take advantage of the trial against FIFA to

of the organization's attitudes towards the Ukrainian people.

"During the

, Ukrainian citizens who had flights, reservations or tickets were not allowed to enter Qatar.

And at the same time,

.

I don't understand it and it sounds very bad.

They have no respect for us," criticizes Palkin.

In addition, the Ukrainian team denounced

in the World Cup, arguing that it was helping Russia with weapons.

«We have to fight in all areas, also in sport.

You can't sit and watch the World Cup and think that everything is fine.

, because if you are not against them, it means that you accept all this.

And if you accept it, you should receive sanctions, "denounces Palkin.

The Ukrainian team also requests more humanitarian aid from European clubs, UEFA and FIFA itself.

«Some clubs, like

, have helped us a lot, but the clubs can do much more.

We have received help because we have contacts, but I think that this is not right.

I would like all the clubs and leagues to be involved because

, it is the war of all democratic countries," says Palkin, who admits that "we need the war to end as soon as possible, but that means winning the war, do not negotiate."

"If we negotiate, Putin will come back and destroy us because he thinks we are weak.

.

You have to end the war by winning it.

Words cannot explain what the Russians have done to our country.

You have to see it."

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