General Director of FC Lviv Vadim Levchuk commented on the difficult situation with the goalkeeping coach of the Lviv team Vasily Khomutovsky, who faces imprisonment in Belarus for his civil position.
— Vadim Olegovich, tell us how FC Lviv helps Vasily Khomutovsky in this difficult situation?
— Now we are in direct contact with Vasily Khomutovsky. We also communicate with lawyers, lawyers. At this stage, Vasily manages to solve the issue on his own. We do not want to harm by unnecessary actions. On this occasion, we communicated with the UAF, and also sent letters to the Belarusian Football Federation. An active process is underway and we see a positive result.
— What does it consist of?
- Today Vasily is free. On December 28, the trial is to take place, and we hope that he will be fully acquitted, and he will return to training with our club.
— You said that you wrote a letter to the Belarusian Football Federation. Where was the answer from?
— At this stage, there is no answer. We also communicated with them by phone. We were told that due to the situation that is happening in their country, they cannot influence any decisions.
— Have you contacted UEFA about this issue?
— At this stage, not yet. We all understand the current situation in Belarus. These letters can only make them angry, and our worker will go to jail. Vasily wants this topic to be inflated as little as possible.
— What does Khomutovsky say?
- Vasily has not yet given any comments on this topic. He is a completely law-abiding citizen and what he is charged with is that he seemed to have been at some kind of rallies... It's all water. I hope that the court will treat this with understanding.
— What does Oleg Dulub say about this?
- Worries, like all of us. There is chaos and incomprehensible things. Once again, I don’t want to comment on anything so as not to harm Vasily. We are helping him, but for now we will not say exactly how. For us, the main end result is for Vasily to remain at large and be able to leave with his family.
— As far as is known, Khomutovsky went to Belarus for an operation. Did he assume that he might be detained there?
- He came for an examination and was simply detained. That's all. It was hard to guess. I think by 10 percent he understood that this could happen, but he tried not to believe it. We repeatedly spoke with him on this topic and, I think, he was not ready for such an option. Moreover, if a person lives honestly and law-abidingly, then he goes to his homeland without any ulterior motives. Vasily worked there, paid taxes, he is a famous sportsman in his country. I don't think he expected such a reception.
— When Khomutovsky is acquitted, will he return to work at FC Lviv?
- I hope that yes. I think he has a desire to come back and help our team. We are waiting for him here. But it's still too early to jump ahead. You need to know how he will feel, what state of health he will have, what will happen to his family. I think that now Vasily himself does not know how it will be in the future.
— We all know that in Belarus all courts are subordinate to the self-proclaimed President Lukashenko. If, nevertheless, problems begin in the Khomutovsky case, what will FC Lviv do?
— We will solve problems as they come up and think about where to go next. But we hope that everything will end well and Vasily will be free with his family.
Andrey Piskun