In the football focus of the domestic press, the past week was marked by the end of the World Cup holiday in Qatar and the continuation of court cases against officials from the Ukrainian House of Football.
There are no champions in war
On Sunday, the world champion was determined in Qatar. Reigning trophy holders France had a chance to defend their title against Argentina, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. The teams gave a bright and "validating" final duel for their fans, in which the Europeans came out of an almost hopeless situation, brought the matter to a penalty shootout, but there success was on the side of the opponent.
For the next three and a half years, Argentina will wear the title of the best national team on the planet. This is already the third such title for her, and according to this indicator, she is now inferior only to Brazil, Germany and Italy.
In addition to the purely football component, Ukrainians were waiting for the main match of the 2022 World Cup for another reason. Before the final, a speech with a message of peace by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was planned, but FIFA banned this video message. What caused surprise in the Office of the President:
"Qatar supported the president's initiative, but FIFA blocked it and will not allow his video address to be shown before the final match. FIFA has lost its understanding of the importance of football as a game that unites peoples and does not perpetuate existing divisions.
There is nothing political in the president's address, which gives a political color to the sports event, but rather subjective assessments, political signals and even more accusations.
FIFA still has time to correct its mistake. FIFA should not be afraid that the words of peace will be heard at the world football festival that represents peace", said in a statement for CNN (12/18/25).
However, the international federation did not listen to her. The American publication also reached out to FIFA for comment, but did not receive a response either. So the President's Office said that they will distribute the video on their own if the ban is not lifted.
Current and former Ukrainian football players in their social networks have friendly published Volodymyr Zelenskyi's address, which should have been delivered before the final match. This was done by Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, Roman Yaremchuk, Oleksandr Zubkov, Oleksandr Sirota, Viktor Kornienko, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Danylo Ignatenko, Andriy Yarmolenko, Denis Popov, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Denis Boyko, Viktor Kovalenko, Valery Bondar, Andriy Lunin, Andriy Pyatov and others .
"Warm greetings from Ukraine to all fans of football, life and peace! I congratulate the whole planet on the World Cup final! Today we will see a shared victory - a celebration of the human spirit.
This World Cup proves again and again that different countries and peoples can decide who is the strongest in a fair game, not in a game with fire. On the green battlefield, not the red battlefield. This is the dream of so many people! When players compete but everyone enjoys peace. Every parent would like to take their son to a football match. Wherever it is. And every mother would like her son to return from the war. Whenever it is. Above all, Ukraine seeks peace!
We have offered the world a formula for peace that is completely honest. We proposed it because in war there are no champions, there can be no losers. So, I'm announcing the initiative to convene a Formula Peace Global Summit this winter. A summit to unite all peoples of the world around the idea of global peace. Stadium stands are empty after a match, and cities are empty after a war. Therefore, wars must fail and peace must be championed, as it is here now in Qatar. A World Cup, not a World War. It's possible!
Please support Ukraine and our efforts to restore peace. Join the Formula Peace Global Summit and become a champion of peace. Let's see the finale together - and the end of the war. Glory to Ukraine! And Happy National Day of Qatar!", says the text of Volodymyr Zelenskyi's video message. (Footclub.com.ua, 18.12.20).
A hole in the legal plane
On the other hand, last week, the topic of court cases regarding the officials of the Ukrainian Football Association was once again raging on the domestic sports information fields.
As it is known, its president Andriy Pavelko, general secretary Yuriy Zapisotskyi, and financial director of the organization Yevgenia Sagaidak are currently involved in several criminal proceedings.
On Monday, December 12, the hearing of the appeal against A. Pavelka's preventive measure was supposed to begin, but the hearing did not begin. It turns out that in two weeks, the Pechersk Court of the capital was unable to transfer to the Court of Appeal the files in the case of stolen funds for the construction of a plant for the production of artificial turf for football fields. The meeting has been postponed until January 4, 2023, according to media reports.
At the beginning of the week, the press stated that the defenders are trying to drag out the process by any means. According to the media, with a high probability, the suspects themselves may start not showing up at one of the next meetings. Most likely, because of health problems. And another element of the procedural game that they can obviously play is the conflict of lawyers. Public ones appointed by the court and private ones with a valid contract. It will also be decided due to postponements of court sessions...
Journalists seemed to be looking into the water. On Thursday, November 15, the state lawyer appointed to Y. Zapisotskyi by Judge of the Court of Appeal Yurii Sliva, after four postponements of the appeal, also did not appear at the court session. The reason is that the defense attorney did not have time to study the case for two days, although it is only four pages of the prosecutor's appeal. Along with this, the private lawyer also did not come, because, allegedly, he felt that he had contracted Covid-19 and was waiting for the test results.
"The most interesting thing in this story is that the preventive measure for the General Secretary of the UAF is valid until December 18 inclusive. That is, from December 19, the preventive measure in this case will no longer apply. The next appeal hearing was scheduled for December 22, but Zapisotskyi will no longer be able to increase the preventive measure at that time, since the validity period of the resolution regarding the suspect's personal commitment has expired.
The appeal hearing on the change of preventive measure against Yury Zapisotsky was postponed FOUR times! All four times the suspect's lawyers did not appear in court. The first time they allegedly did not have time to review the case (they have been conducting this proceeding since 2018) due to the lack of electricity, the second and third time they did not have time because they were busy with another process. And for the fourth time, Zapisotskyi's lawyer did not appear in the appeals court, because he allegedly filed an appeal in the same case, but in the first instance court - in Holosiivskyi, because of which he was busy with this case there.
As we can see, the fifth attempt was also unsuccessful. This is how the tightening continues and every time new reasons are found. And unfortunately, this is how our system works", he reminds and indignantly Footballhub.com.ua (15.12.22).
What is it for? The publication proves that, in fact, everything is very simple. And it is "simply" in the legal plane. Yes, if the investigation is investigating a crime, then there should be not only a suspect, but also a victim. Currently, in all these cases, there is a "complainant" - this is the person who wrote a statement about the crime, there is a suspect... and the problem is with the victim. According to the logic of things, the "victim" is the UAF itself. Investigators, prosecutors, judges and suspects with lawyers understand this. But de jure UAF is not a victim, and while A. Pavelko manages the association, its procedural status does not change either.
"And then watch your hands: the election of the president of the association is on the horizon. In fact, Pavelka's "reign" term ended a year ago, and new elections must be held. And in order for everything to go well, all participants in the voting process must be informed about the election of the president of the Football Association of Ukraine 50 days in advance!!! Therefore, the current team needs this time in order to hold these elections and, having an absolute and manageable majority in the executive committee of the federation, extend the term of office of Andrii Pavelek, a great connoisseur of elite varieties of fish, tea and coffee, for another five years. Paraphrasing in soccer language, take the match to extra time and penalty kicks", he explains 1927.kiev.ua (12.12.22).
Evidence on the table!
However, everything can turn around starting from December 20. Last week, the previously disseminated information about the holding of this day by the UAF Executive Committee in an online format was confirmed. The reason is the same - the corruption of the leadership of the national federation. Its collective members are extremely dissatisfied with the activities of A. Pavelka and his closest entourage, especially when the top managers of the organization are today suspected of multimillion-dollar criminal schemes.
"There are emergency situations when members of the UAF can appoint a so-called extraordinary congress and, somewhere, agree it with the statutory regulations. As far as I know, the Ukrainian football community has such plans to do this.
If three fourths of the protocols are collected, then within 10 days the UAF must appoint an extraordinary congress. But if they don't appoint him - and I'm sure they will - then the collective members should choose a working group to conduct this congressIhor Kochetov, head of the public football union of the city of Kyiv, former member of the FFU executive committee, said in a comment to "Details". (Podrobnosti.ua, 14.12.22).
In order to keep a warm place in the UAF, A. Pavelko and his accomplices have previously resorted to dirty manipulations with threats to appeal to UEFA and FIFA and the loss of the opportunity to host the 2030 World Cup. Obviously, they did not stop common sense with this blackmail. That is why, apparently, they decided to take one more step, trying to make an informational noise with the help of engaged mass media.
They picked up the "resonant" message of the editor-in-chief of the "News Center" information agency and, jointly with the president of the national team of Ukrainian football journalists, Olga Vytak, on her own Facebook page. She claims that allegedly six regional football associations "under copy in the offices of the heads of military administrations and heads of the SBU" wrote protocols on convening an extraordinary congress of the UAF.
"In fact, the heads of military administrations force the heads of regional associations to deliberately violate the UAF statute, which meets the requirements of FIFA and UEFA. This is the first official case where the authorities put pressure on football", O. Vytak emphasized (Facebook.com/olgavytak, 07.12.22).
In a week, she made the second informational throw-in.
"You remember, earlier I told about how six heads of regional associations wrote protocols on the convening of an extraordinary congress of the UAF on December 20 in the offices of the heads of military administrations. So, nothing happened to them. Therefore, there is an attempt #2 to remove the leadership of the UAF under the code name VIRTUAL EXECUTION. An action plan for convening and holding a virtual UAF Executive Committee was sent to all members of the Executive Committee! According to the plan of the leaders of the subversive group, the signature of 31 members of the Executive Committee is required to hold the congress. Next, according to the scheme, a "+" mark should be placed in front of the column in each Bulletin", O. Vytak wrote, publishing the "action plan" and the draft bulletin developed for it (Apostrophe.ua, 14.12.22).
Also, according to her words, so that the members of the executive committee "do not think of refusing to sign the ballot, criminal proceedings were opened against them all for voting":
"According to my information, without waiting for the holding of an illegitimate congress, on November 24, the National Police opened criminal proceedings against all members of the UAF Executive Committee under Art. 170 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. That is, if none of the members of the Executive Committee even thought of refusing to carry out illegal instructions, they would all be hanged together. And on December 6, ballots began to be stamped and sent to regional football associations. Ordered nature of criminal pressure on members of the Executive Committee of the UAF, threats, SBU employees in the offices of military associations - this is the way Andriy Shevchenko is being led to the chair of the President of the UAF". (Ua.tribuna.com, 14.12.22).
Again, referring to the alleged stories of regional association heads, O. Vytak noted that "Andrii Smirnov (deputy head of the President's Office) and temporary residents of Bukovel are in charge of this process."
The UAF's reaction was the creation of a working group to review the protocols and decisions of the members of the federation regarding the convening of an extraordinary congress. Its first meeting took place in the House of Football already on December 7.
"During the meeting, we reviewed and analyzed the protocols on the proposal to convene an extraordinary congress that had already been sent to the UAF. Protocols that have not yet arrived at the UAF, but were made public in the mass media, were also considered.
For those protocols that have signs of inconsistency with the UAF Charter and the charters of the relevant members, we have decided to send requests to the regional associations with a request to provide explanations regarding these facts.
Regarding individual protocols, which have signs of gross violations of statutory norms, we will forward information to the UAF Administration with a proposal for their further consideration by the UAF Control and Disciplinary Committee.
In addition, we decided to contact the relevant regional authorities. We will ask you to comment on the available information about the possible influence of representatives of state authorities on the decisions of individual regional football associations regarding the convening of an extraordinary UAF Congress.
In order to avoid violations of our statutes, as well as the statutes of FIFA and UEFA, we are in constant contact with representatives of these organizations", commented the meeting of the working group, its head, first vice-president of the UAF, Anatoly Demyanenko (Uaf.ua, 07.12.22).
However, a completely valid question immediately arises: on what basis will the UAF seek clarification? After all, even if you superficially analyze all these statements, they turn out to be completely meaningless. The so-called "investigators" do not provide any evidence, names of specific "figures", let alone any of their personal statements, speeches, comments or theses. Only a screen is created and a straw is thrown, for which the drowning football officials try to somehow grab hold of.
This whole situation, as with court cases, also seems to be wasting time. One can feel the attempt of the UAF leadership to fan an informational fire around the topic and to warm up next to it. We note, without even neglecting the direct accusations against the address of the Office of the President. Although so far we only have the journalist's statements, which without real evidence do not count for anything.
Charity front of football
Instead, the real values of life today consist of the charitable acts of our football clubs. The most media teams "Dynamo" and "Shakhtar" also last week impressed with their care, actions, and even bravery in a difficult time for the country.
Yes, the Donetsk club organized and covered all the expenses for the treatment of Azovstal defender Mykhailo Dianov. After being wounded and four months in captivity, his hand had shrunk by four centimeters and required complex medical intervention.
"On December 13, the fighter underwent surgery on his right shoulder in St. Louis (USA). After rehabilitation, Mykhailo's hand will function fully again", he reported Shakhtar.com (17.12.22).
And on December 19, after major repairs, the renovated kindergarten will be opened in the village of Byshiv, Fastiv district, Kyiv region, the reconstruction of which was financed by FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Surkis Brothers Foundation.
During active hostilities in Kyiv region in March 2022, the center of the village was destroyed as a result of a Russian airstrike. The civilian infrastructure suffered significant destruction, in particular, the kindergarten, which was attended by more than 100 children before the full-scale invasion of the occupiers.
"FC "Dynamo" Kyiv and the Surkis Brothers Foundation joined the restoration of the preschool educational institution and repair works. During the reconstruction, which began this summer, windows and doors, the building's roof, ceilings and interior walls were restored, as well as interior decoration work.
Soon, the renovated, warm and comfortable kindergarten will hospitably open its doors for its little guests. A special day was chosen for the opening of the rebuilt kindergarten - the Day of St. Nicholas, who is considered the protector and patron of children", says the message on Fcdynamo.com (16.12.22).
Meanwhile, the infrastructure of the capital club itself was attacked by Iranian drones. The head of the Dynamo press service, Andriy Shakhov, reported that a few days ago, the wreckage of a downed aircraft fell on the territory of the White-Blue base. The American TV channel CNN, which came to film the children's football tournament held at the Dynamo training grounds in Vyta-Litovsk, covered the consequences of the fall in its story.
"Fortunately, neither the employees nor the infrastructure of the club were harmed. However, these days there was a tournament with the participation of 30 teams among children born in 2011. The games were supposed to start a few hours after the attack... and after the air raid alert was lifted, they did! It was on this day that the American TV channel CNN was scheduled to visit the Dynamo base, and they were surprised by the bravery of Ukrainian children", A. Shakhov wrote on Instagram. (Ukrfootball.ua, 16.12.22).
Orest LELEKA
