Thursday June 10, 2021
Russia intervenes at UEFA
Ukraine have to adjust patriot jersey
Ukraine wanted to compete in the European Football Championship in jerseys that showed the outlines of the country including the Russian-annexed Crimea and the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. That caused trouble in Moscow, a complaint to UEFA and a reaction from the European Football Association.
The European Football Union UEFA has largely approved the controversial European Football Championship jersey of Ukraine and called for a change. A silhouette of the country with the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia has been printed on the yellow-blue shirts. This is one of the reasons why both countries have been in conflict since 2014.
UEFA commented: “Given that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262, largely adopted by member states, recognizes the territorial boundaries as roughly represented by design, UEFA does not require changes to be made to it Design element. ”
The new jerseys with the battle cry “Glory of Ukraine!” were featured on Facebook on Sunday. According to UEFA, this saying can still be on the shirt. The slogan could “be seen as a general and apolitical expression of general national importance”, justified the umbrella organization. The situation is different with the slogan “Honor our heroes” on the collar.
This was classified by UEFA after an examination as political. That is why the lettering for the upcoming European Championship games should be removed. Ukraine coach Andrei Shevchenko had already put the issue into perspective on Wednesday: “The look of the shirt has been approved by UEFA. I don’t see any differences of opinion here.”
A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Sakharova, had spoken of a “desperate art operation” intended to give the players strength. State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov asked UEFA to ban the motif. “That is a political slogan that must not be on the jerseys,” he told the “Sport-Express” portal. That is a violation of international rules. Sport should not be mixed up with politics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi explicitly welcomed the design on Tuesday. The jersey that Zelenskyj posed on Instagram was “in fact different from everyone else. It knows how to shock. It has several important symbols that unite Ukrainians”.
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