By Mark Baber
August 23 – The executive committee of the Ukrainian FA has voted 28-2 in favour of continuing to hold Ukrainian Premier League matches in Mariupol, notwithstanding Dynamo Kiev’s apparent decision not to play in the city this weekend.
Dynamo Kiev Vice President Andriy Madzianovsky announced that his team would not travel to the south-eastern port city for Sunday’s game against FC Mariupol saying, “Will the main squad leave for the match against Mariupol? Under the current conditions and in these circumstances, of course, it won’t.”
Arguing that according to UEFA and FIFA regulations, the level of danger or safety of each match in high-risk areas is determined exclusively by the special services of each country and law enforcement agencies.
Madzianovsky claimed: “In our case, there are three such agencies in Ukraine – the Interior Ministry, the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Guard Department. All of the three agencies that I mentioned gave negative answers to Dynamo and the Football Federation that, unfortunately, matches in the city of Mariupol cannot be held at the moment.”
In case of being awarded a technical defeat, Madzianovsky said Dynamo Kyiv would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, “where our arguments will be taken into consideration and a lawful decision will be made.”
Tensions may be high this week as Ukraine celebrates Independence Day tomorrow and Mariupol is around 40 km from where intermittent ceasefire violations have been occurring between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces. However Mariupol has already hosted three Premier League matches this season.
Representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, including Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug, are due to attend the game, with the federation’s president, Andriy Pavelko, having said that the presence of observers from an authoritative international organisation would be a significant guarantee of the safe holding of the match.
Indeed, before Madzianovsky threatened Dynamo would not come to the game Pavelko had hailed the fixture, saying: “Our international partners welcome the holding of the match in Mariupol. This confirms the prospects for peaceful life and is an example of the policy of reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories in Donbas and adjoining areas. That is why Mariupol has turned into a center of special international attention that has recently been regularly visited by our partners – members of the U.S. Congress, MEPs, and senior officials and politicians from the EU and the U.S.”
Whether the Dynamo fans, a group of whom openly wore Ku Klux Klan outfits and swastikas at a recent game against Shakhtar Donetsk, would make a favourable impression on the OSCE delegation is another question.
In response to the situation, the FFU Executive Committee held a meeting which supported the decision of the FFU Committee on stadiums and security to continue to hold matches of the Premier League in Mariupol.
After the meeting of the executive committee, Pavelko stated: “This decision is more important than ever. FFU does not want to have privileged teams in our football. It is important to adhere to the sporting principle. All clubs should be on equal terms.”
“Matches in Mariupol, he said, “are a great opportunity to demonstrate that we have a single country, we have strong special services and an army. The purpose of the Federation is to ensure that clubs do not receive penalties, in the form of technical defeats, and all their controversies were solved exclusively on the football field. In a friendly atmosphere, in the presence of thousands of spectators, and everyone receives joy from football.”
“The conduct of the matches in Mariupol has already proved that the Ukrainian special services and law enforcement officers deal adequately with their duties. But to demand from them any additional guarantees of safety is not necessary. In the form of a document they cannot be provided by anyone in the world. Such a concept does not exist at all. There are special services, law enforcement bodies that provide order throughout the country, honorably fulfilling their professional duty. There is no need to allocate a single city, placing the emphasis on the work of the power structures.”
“This morning, a meeting was held with representatives of the police and the SBU. They made it clear: if the decision to hold matches in Mariupol is taken, they will carry out their work and provide within their competence all the measures necessary for such matches. As they actually did before,”
Whether the game goes ahead or not, remains in question. FC Mariupol has addressed Dynamo Kiev fans directly via their web site, saying that the question should be posed to “the office of FC Dynamo. Unfortunately, we cannot answer your question. All our similar requests in FC Dynamo remain unanswered.”
Contact the writer of this story at mark.baber@insideworldfootball.com