Shakhtar CEO Serhiy Palkin has criticised FIFA for the rule which allows internationals to freely suspend contracts with Ukrainian clubs:
"We are all in the same competition, but FIFA allows half of our squad to leave. How can we compete with others? I could understand it if we didn't play in the league and the UPL. If football in Ukraine had stopped and we continued after the war, I would agree, but they just took all our players away from us and we continue to play.
I still have to pay all my creditors. We had one case where the club approached FIFA. FIFA appointed a mediator and that mediator tried to make me pay that club. I said: "How can I pay if FIFA has allowed my player to leave? I can't even sell him".
We have zero revenue in Ukrainian football right now. We have no ticket sales because the stadiums are empty. There is no sponsorship because everyone has disappeared and we have zero income from TV rights. How can we pay? Where do we get the money? They say if we don't pay, UEFA can take away our football licence to play in the European Cups. How is that possible?
But it is almost impossible to beat FIFA in court, the system is set up for that.
We are trying to push FIFA to create a solidarity fund for Ukrainian clubs. We are not just fighting for Shakhtar, we are fighting for everyone. I do not want FIFA to treat us the same way it treats the Russian Federation and Russian players because that is exactly what they are doing at this point," Palkin said.