Former Dynamo Kyiv captain Serhii Sydorchuk, who now plays for Belgian side Westerlo, told vZbirna how he communicates with teammate Roman Neustaedter, who has Russian citizenship (13 matches for the Russian national team).
Sergey Sidorchuk- It's an unpleasant moment, but Westerlo has a guy like Neustaedter, who played for the Russian national team. Did you have any communication with him?
- Before I signed the contract, I had a conversation with the general director and told him that it would be a very big problem for me. He said I needed to talk to him and I would understand everything myself. I signed the contract, arrived at the base and the first person I met was him. I immediately told him that "I won't be able to shake your hand first, because I need to know your position". And he explained it to me clearly, I understood it, and we agreed on that.
- Does he not support what Russia is doing in Ukraine?
- He doesn't support it, but I can't speak for him. You understand, right? I can't say for a person what he has to say for himself. He told me that he doesn't support it, and that's it.
- He was born in Dnipro. He has a Ukrainian history...
- He has a lot of nuances, but I can't tell you about them. As for renouncing citizenship, it's not that easy to do. Again, I cannot speak for the person. But what he said seemed to me a normal position.
- For you, he is not, let's say, a person from the "Russian world"?
- No, not at all.
