"Shakhtar have issued an official statement on the escaped Rosputko

The day before, the media broke the news regarding Shakhtar U-19 player Oleksandr Rosputko, who did not return to Ukraine with the club after travelling to Belgium for the UEFA Youth League match against Antwerp. "Shakhtar have not officially commented on the information, but at the request of the UA-Football edition outlined their position.

"We confirm the fact of Oleksandr Rosputko's non-return to Ukraine after the match with Antwerp.Theplayer received a boarding ticket, handed in his suitcase and did not show up to board the plane," the club commented to us.

At the same time, Shakhtar cannot deny or confirm the information about Rosputko's flight to Russia, spread in the media.

"We cannot confirm in which direction the player has disappeared. We have no information," they replied to the enquiry.

In this situation, a logical question arises - why does the club comment on the situation only when it was written about in the media. That is, was it not more appropriate to make an official statement even before the public outcry. Shakhtar explain it by the hopes that the player will soon return to the club. Moreover, Rosputko has this official claim.

"Theclub hopes that the player will return soon. We have addressed an official letter to him demanding that he return to the team's location within five days."

The media said that before his unauthorised departure, Rosputko signed a new five-year contract with Shakhtar. According to another version - the document was not formalised in time, and it seems that under the contract the player belongs to Shakhtar only until the end of this calendar year. Either way, the club are ready for legal procedures, if any are needed:

"If he doesn't return - the contract will be terminated through the player's fault.Theclub reserves the right to demand financial compensation from the player," Shakhtar said.

The club also claim that there were no preconditions for such behaviour on the part of the player. If there were - there would be a different behaviour of the club itself:

"If therewere prerequisites [for the escape - note] - the player would have stayed in Ukraine and would not have gone to the youth Champions League match. Now he is not making contact."

"We will act exclusively within the current legislation.Theplayer should be held responsible as an employee of the club and as a citizen of Ukraine, who violated the terms of contractual relations and provisions of the border crossing rules, if he does not return to the country in due time," Shakhtar said.