The Russian attack on Ukraine also affects football. While Russia and Russian clubs will be banned from all competitions, Ukrainian clubs will also have to let their players go. On the other hand, one of the largest clubs in the country is now to sue.
According to a media report, the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk is demanding 50 million euros in damages from the world association FIFA. The club is said to have appealed to the CAS Court of Justice against a decision by FIFA, as “The Athletic” reported. FIFA had opened an extraordinary transfer window for foreign players and coaches in Russian and Ukrainian clubs due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Accordingly, the contracts with clubs in Ukraine were automatically suspended, those with clubs in Russia could be unilaterally suspended by the players. Both were valid until the end of the season on June 30th. The suspension of a contract means “that players and coaches are considered contractless until June 30, 2022 and are therefore free to sign a contract with another club without any consequences,” FIFA said.
Shakhtar, which has only played its home games in other cities since 2014 due to the war in eastern Ukraine, had 14 foreign players under contract. According to the report, Shakhtar wanted to sell his foreign players in order to generate funds because the Russian invasion had already reduced income massively. Football has been suspended in Ukraine since the Russian attack on February 24.
Accordingly, the club was actively talking about several sales, but these came to a standstill with the FIFA decision. For example, negotiations have been ongoing for several weeks with Fulham, who have been promoted to the Premier League, about a transfer from Manor Solomon. According to Shakhtar managing director Sergei Palkin, the clubs had already agreed on a transfer fee of 7.5 million euros.
“Due to the FIFA decision, FC Shakhtar has lost the opportunity to transfer four foreign players for a total of 50 million euros,” said Palkin in a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino available to The Athletic. In it, Palkin announced that he would go to the CAS if no solution was found.
“Everyone believes that we are a football family. This decision simply crossed out that slogan. We are not a football family because nobody cares about Ukrainian clubs. It’s a shame. FIFA doesn’t care about us,” Palkin said in an interview “The Athletic”.
