General Director of Shakhtar Donetsk Sergey Palkin expressed his opinion about FIFA after the 2022 World Cup.
Sergey Palkin (photo: V. Rasner)- The World Cup in Qatar once again showed the whole essence of FIFA - this is an openly pro-Russian organization that does not hesitate to support Russia, although it tries to do it covertly.
At all times, the World Cup has been a holiday for fans from all over the world. It united people, different peoples and continents, opened new borders and provided a platform for peace. Even if your team does not participate in the world championship, you could still come and enjoy the atmosphere of a football celebration. But in Qatar, not everyone had such an opportunity.
Back in October, the Qatari authorities stopped letting Ukrainians into their country. Our fans were not issued an entry permit and were not allowed to issue a Hayya Card, a personalized document that can be used to get to World Cup matches. It was necessary to apply, but the decision was not made. While the Russians received the card in one day.
FIFA's attitude towards Ukraine as a whole and the war that Russia unleashed in our country is also emphasized by the fact that President Zelensky was denied a video message with a peace message to the whole world before the 2022 World Cup final. The decisive match of the World Cup was watched by 1.2 billion people all over the planet, taking away the opportunity to speak in front of such an audience is a moral crime against humanity.
“Make football work for society” or “Make football work for society” is one of the goals of the FIFA Vision 2020-2023, which it itself advertises. But for some reason, this does not work in relation to Ukraine and Ukrainians. During all ten months of the war, we see how biased FIFA and its leadership are towards Ukraine. Having huge resources and influence in the world, they did nothing to influence the aggressor and stop the war.
Football out of politics? But war is not politics, it is the death of hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed homes and destinies. But during the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA never drew the attention of the world to the genocide of Ukrainians.
FIFA puts Ukrainian clubs on the brink of survival, thinking only about the earnings of agents, does not respect Ukrainian fans, creating obstacles for them to watch matches, and plays along with Russia at the first opportunity.
FIFA should be transformed from a purely political organization into a more professional organization, when decisions should be based primarily on values, and not on the political and economic interests of individual countries and their representatives,” wrote Palkin.
