Igor Surkis: “Sanctions? Let them try!"

Dynamo President Igor Surkis told on which resource it will be possible to watch the home matches of the Kiev team in the new season of the Ukrainian championship.

“This is a club, not the UPL, that manages the rights to broadcast matches, and I didn’t transfer the rights to anyone”

— Igor Mikhailovich I want to start our conversation with the most interesting question for all fans: where will it be possible to watch Dynamo's home matches in the Premier League?

— As usual, we will show our matches on the 2+2 public TV channel.

— But the rights to the telepool were won by Setanta. What if the UPL imposes sanctions on Dynamo: fines and deduction of points?

- Let them try, I'm not afraid of any sanctions! I am in favor of making football available to the public today, and it doesn’t matter to me who will show it, Setanta or another channel. Let the broadcasts be with a delay of 10-15 minutes, but football should be available for free! This is my position.

I do this for our fans. According to a survey by the Ukrainian Sociological Group, 50.4% of all UPL clubs support Dynamo in Ukraine. This is a very large number of people, and we must take into account their interests.

— As far as I understand, the rights to broadcast the matches belong to the UPL.

- This club manages the rights to broadcast matches, and I did not transfer the rights to anyone. And if they think that they were able to take away their rights due to lawlessness, then there are certain authorities that will prove that this cannot be done.

At one time in Spain, negotiations were underway for four years on the transfer of rights to television broadcasts by clubs. And only the voluntary consent of the clubs made it possible to create a single telepool.

The UPL says that it has created a single telepool - this is their right. But there are certain bodies that will deal with this.

We have a long-term contract with 2+2. We were ready to even go for penalties in order to create a common television pool. We didn't even stutter about the financial conditions. We had only one condition - football should be shown on public channels! Not after six hours, not after ten, not after a day, but with a maximum of a 15-minute delay.

"There is always a chance that we will be able to negotiate with Setanta"

— Have you tried to negotiate with Setanta so that they would show the matches live, but on 2+2 with a 15-minute delay?

- Negotiations were held, but today there is no result.

— Is it planned to broadcast matches on the Dynamo YouTube channel?

- Of course it will be! We will broadcast our matches on all available available sources.

— Will the matches be live or delayed on the YouTube channel?

- Like last year, with a three to five minute delay.

— Why not live?

— Such conditions are specified in the contract with 2+2.

— Which other clubs, apart from Dynamo, will be showing their matches on 2+2?

- Dnepr-1, Zarya and Metallist will be broadcast on the 1+1 channel group.

— Is there still a chance that it will be possible to negotiate with Setanta?

- There is always a chance, we are not enemies and do not want to harm Setante or the football community. We just want Ukrainian football to develop and be able to watch it for free anywhere in Ukraine.

I believe that during the war, paying money to Setante to watch a Dynamo match is a crime!

— One hundred hryvnias is not so much for a quality product.

“Maybe it’s not much for you and me, but for grandmothers and grandfathers from the villages, this is quite a significant amount.

“Gagarin asks: where is Dynamo? Well, let's see where Kryvbas will be

— Why then does Dynamo not show Champions League matches for free on 2+2? To see them at Megogo, you also have to pay.

- The Champions League is a completely different story. Everything is clear here - the rights to broadcast matches were transferred by UEFA clubs. The rights to broadcast them were bought by Megogo, and there is nothing we can do about it. They cost a lot of money. Football channels competed with them, but lost the fight. Maybe this is good, considering that today the Football channels are closed for some reason.

We cannot influence the broadcast of our matches in the Champions League, but we can influence the display of domestic matches. And we will do everything possible so that our matches are shown on public channels and people have at least some kind of outlet during the war.

— We read that the vice-president of Kryvbas Artem Gagarin "tricked" Dynamo by writing after the match with Benfica that he did not find the broadcast of this game on 2+2 and Dynamo YouTube channel, although during the war football should be free? He also asks the question: where is Dynamo?

- This suggests that a person has a split personality. On the one hand, he says: it's good that they created a telepool; and on the other hand, he asks: where is Dynamo? Well, let's see where Kryvbas will be.

He is just starting his way in football and does not quite understand what he is talking about. If he knew at least a little about football, he would know that the rights to the Champions League matches belong to UEFA.

Let me remind you that our matches in the second and third rounds of qualifying were broadcast by Setanta, since at this stage the rights belong to the clubs, and the playoff round is already equal to the Champions League and UEFA manages the rights.

I emphasize that we sold the rights to Setante for two rounds of selection on the condition that the 2 + 2 channel will show our match with a 15-minute delay. This is what we want for the Ukrainian Championship. And, as far as I know, the shooting for "Setanta" was carried out by "2 + 2".

And to this comrade, who has been in football for a week without a year and knows how to PR only in his social networks, I advise you to first understand the basics of football, and then write something.

— What can you say about the position of the clubs that supported Setanta's proposal?

- I do not discuss the position of other clubs. They show football where they are offered, and Dynamo today has the opportunity, in addition to 2 + 2, to show football on our YouTube channel, where there are four times more subscribers than on Setant.

“Tsygankov can leave, he is not a slave, and no one keeps him in Dynamo by force”

— Let's talk a little about transfers. How are things going with the signing of Vladislav Kabaev?

— We are currently in the process of negotiations. I think we will be able to find a common language with Zorya, and Kabaev will soon be in our team. When we sign a contract with him, we will officially announce it.

— Also, Dynamo is credited with interest in another Zorya player — Yegor Nazarin.

- We have never been interested in Nazarina and have not negotiated it.

— Are you planning to strengthen someone else?

— We constantly think about it, but now it is very difficult to do it. It happens that the interests of two clubs coincide, but the interests of the football player himself do not coincide. Most are afraid to go to a country where there is a war.

— What position does Lucescu want to strengthen?

- Lucescu is this coach who works with those players in the team. And it works effectively! For this I am grateful to him. Today we have what we have. During the war, we do not have the opportunity to strengthen ourselves with high-quality legionnaires.

— Igor Tsyganik said yesterday that Dynamo could sell Viktor Tsygankov, because he had a year left on his contract. Can you confirm or deny the information?

- Tsygankov can leave, he is not a slave, and no one keeps him in Dynamo by force. But if a worthy offer is not received, then he will continue to play for the benefit of Dynamo. Together with Tsygankov, we will decide what to do next. To date, there are no proposals for it, if they do, we will consider it.

— Did they say that Manchester United scouts were present at the match with Benfica, who were watching Giorgi Bushchan?

- There are no proposals for Bushchan either. Maybe Manchester United is interested in Buschan, but I have not heard about it. I don’t know who is throwing these fakes on the Internet. I talk about transfers only in one single case - when I see on paper an official letter from a club that wants to acquire our player. If agents call, I immediately hang up.

At the moment there is not a single specific offer for Dynamo players!

As I said: I do not seek to sell the team. I don't stand with outstretched hand and wait for someone to send me an offer.

— Why did Dynamo choose to host the first UPL match against Dnipro-1 in Lviv, and not Kyiv?

— We chose Lviv for logistical reasons. Dynamo is playing a tough game with Benfica, the next day we arrive, and we actually have three days left to prepare. And it still takes 10-12 hours to go to Kyiv by bus. In order to prepare well, we chose Lviv.

"Let's go to Lisbon and believe that we will be able to perform a miracle"

— Let's talk a little about Dynamo's first match against Benfica. How do you like the Dynamo game?

- Of the matches that we played in the Champions League qualification, I liked the game with Benfica the most. Although we had mistakes, we created as many chances with Benfica as we did not create in previous qualifying matches.

But in football, the one who realizes his chances wins. Benfica is a very cool team with a well-placed game and technical players. It is very difficult to play against them. In the first match, with the score 0:0, Tsygankov had a good moment, but Vitya did not score. Then we made two mistakes and conceded unnecessary goals.

— Did the absence of Sidorchuk and Garmash in the first match have a big impact?

— They made unjustified mistakes in the match with Sturm. I think they just let the team down. If this could be expected from Garmash, then I did not expect this from our captain. In that situation, there was no need to intervene and receive a yellow card, knowing that he already had one.

Dynamo really missed Sidorchuk in the match against Benfica. Today we no longer have such a player.

— Mircea Lucescu praised Yaremchuk before and after the match against Benfica.

- This is our pupil and, I believe, we gave him the road to big football. When Yaremchuk was just starting to progress, he was not in the first roles in Dynamo. Then Kravets, Mbokani, Moraes played in the attack, and it was hard to compete with them.

Yaremchuk had great ambitions, he wanted to play, and we gave him such an opportunity by selling him to Gent.

And in the future, we had a percentage of his sale to Benfica. Now Yaremchuk has grown as a football player and has reached a certain level - he represents the interests of the Ukrainian national team.

And if we had overexposed him, then it is not known whether Yaremchuk would have been the way he is today.

— Have you thought about trying to bring Yaremchuk back, because Dynamo has a problem with forwards now?

- Yes, Dynamo has a shortage of forwards today, but in the current conditions it is impossible to return Yaremchuk. In addition, he has a good contract with Benfica.

— What do you expect from the second leg against Benfica?

- Dynamo only once in its history beat Benfica, back in 1991. But I am an optimist and, of course, I will attend the match in Lisbon. I will hope that the God of football will turn to our side. I am sure that we will have chances, we just need to realize them.

Physically, we are 100 percent ready.

I won't give a prediction for the return match, I'm not Vanga. Naturally, I will support Dynamo and hope to reach the group stage of the Champions League. But it will be very difficult to do so. We are going to Lisbon and we believe that we will be able to perform a miracle. Everything is possible in football!

Andrey Piskun