Football analyst Filip Joos decided to discuss the reaction of the football world to the Russian invasion in Ukraine: “I have noticed in recent days how football united”, Joos opened.
“Man United decided to no longer fly Aeroflot, UEFA decided to cancel the lucrative deal with Gazprom, … and rightly so if you ask me. It also makes a statement.”
“It actually started on Wednesday with Roman Yaremchuk’s goal against Ajax in the Champions League. Many people also had Ukrainian flags in the stadiums, you could really feel a kind of solidarity in the football world.”
“It is impressive how people still touched a Ukrainian flag or put together something themselves. Really clever. You also noticed in Yaremchuk that it really did him a lot.”
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Joos also spoke about the Russian striker Fyodor Smolov: “His reaction really surprised me. Very clever that he dared to speak out against the war on social media.”
“It’s also not that he plays in a distant country, he just plays in the capital at Dinamo Moscow. Really, hats off to Smolov.”
UEFA and FIFA have meanwhile decided in consultation that Russia will certainly not be a participant in the World Cup in Qatar next fall: “That is a hard punishment”, Joos continued. “Most Russian players will not agree with the war either. Although it serves a higher purpose and it is a good decision.”
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