Shakhtar director general Sergei Palkin is calling for the exclusion of the Iranian national team from the World Cup participants and the inclusion of Ukraine there. He released the corresponding statement to the club’s press service:
“While the Iranian leadership will enjoy watching their national team play at the World Cup, the Ukrainians will be killed by Iranian drones and missiles. Nearly 250 of these drones have already attacked the peaceful cities of Ukraine. Each of them was produced, supplied by the Iranian authorities, by Iranian instructors and by the military directly trained and supervised the drone launches that destroyed homes, museums, universities, offices, sports and playgrounds and, most importantly, killed Ukrainians. Among them are the children. Children who also dreamed of seeing their team at the World Cup.
The Shakhtar football team calls on FIFA and the entire international community to obtain an immediate ban on the participation of the Iranian team in the World Cup for the direct participation of this country in the terrorist attacks of the Ukrainians. This will be a right decision, which should draw the attention of the whole world to a regime that kills its best people and helps kill Ukrainians. The vacancy should be filled by the Ukrainian team, which has shown that they deserve to participate in the World Cup. Having uneven conditions with the other teams during the play-offs, he played with his heart.
This decision is historically and sportingly justified. I urge everyone to join the pressure on the football bureaucracy. Just repeat the mistakes of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, hiding behind an empty thesis on the apathy of sport.
Facilitating the participation of terrorists in the World Cup is political. It is time to put an end to this policy.
