On 22 November, Dynamo President Igor Surkis turns 65. On the eve of his anniversary, Igor Mikhailovich gave an interview to the club's media.
Ihor Surkis. Photo: nv.ua-What do you remember most about the years you spent at Dynamo in various positions?
- The main event was reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League when Valeriy Lobanovsky was in charge. Back then, my brother was the club's president. We have to look up to this result. I hope that maybe someday we will be able to repeat it.
How do I perceive failures? Every time the team loses or draws, I really don't like it, my nerves get tense and I want to give up. But the next day you realise that you have to do your job and try to achieve better results.
It's very difficult, because today we cannot invite quality legionnaires who could play in a team like Dynamo Kyiv and strengthen it. Those foreigners who have come to us recently - Vitinho, Lonwijk, Perris - and those legionnaires who were already in the team during the war have left.
Yes, we are going through a difficult time, and I understand that the fans are not happy with our results, to put it mildly.
-How does the club function in times of war?
- First of all, today we have to help our military, which is what we are doing. FC Dynamo Kyiv and the Surkis Brothers Foundation have already donated more than a billion hryvnias worth of various aid to our defenders. We will continue to do so until we win. We have to drive the enemies out of our land and live in a free Ukraine.
It was very important for us to keep the young pupils of the club, as many of them and their parents have left for other places. In the first days of the war, we had no idea where they were. My brother was a great help, he was able to gather everyone together and we didn't actually lose our kids. Everyone is back, and this is very important for the club's development prospects. That's why I can say that Dynamo has a future, our school is doing its job.
At the moment, almost all the boys who play for Dynamo, except Ramadani, Benito, Diallo and a few Ukrainians, have gone through the club's Academy. This is very important. When the war is over and we need to strengthen, we will definitely do so. Now there is hope for these guys. They have to be responsible, not only when they talk about our soldiers in interviews.
On the first day of the war, everyone gathered in the basement of the base - children with their mothers, the families of the players. The President of Ukraine said he didn't need a taxi, he needed weapons, and this phrase made a great impression on everyone, and there was confidence that we would fight. Yes, there were difficult times, we gathered the team in Poland and Bucharest, and I would like to express my gratitude to Mircea Lucescu, who did not leave the team. Dovbyk and Stepanenko even came to us and trained.
As for my support for the club, I will work as long as I have the strength and help from my family: my brother, wife, and daughters. In addition, my nephew plays here, and this makes my heart beat faster. When he plays, my blood pressure rises to 220 beats (smiles). Slava works hard and deserves to play. He is in Ukraine, not abroad.
-How do you see the development of Ukrainian football?
- Let's hope that this war will end with a 100% victory for us, and only then will we develop football. The main thing is that we have not lost it. The level is the same as it was in the 90s, we have already gone through all this. I hope that football in our country will continue to develop and return at least to the level it was 5-8 years ago.
I hope that every club president who invests his or her money should understand what needs to be done to make football develop, because we get 0 from television and 0 from advertising. Once upon a time, to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, we had to defeat Metalist Kharkiv. That was football! It doesn't matter who won, what matters is that we developed our football and that there were fans at the stadiums. We have not seen fans for four years. Boredom in the stands! I understand that it is possible to bring fans back to the stadium only after we win.
- In fact, Dynamo is now not only a football club, but also a logistics hub for helping the Armed Forces...
- I don't want to constantly advertise what we have done. My brother and I are doing everything we can. On the third or fourth day of the war, we took out all the women and children and relatives of the players, and the team went to Uzhhorod. Then we played charity matches, raised funds and transferred them to the UNITED24 platform, rebuilt a hospital in Chernihiv, as well as a kindergarten and an outpatient clinic in the Kyiv region. Helping the military is a priority. And football and everything else is in brackets.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that football should be there. He is a football fan himself, I know that. He has repeatedly played for various teams - artists, veterans, even Dynamo. Therefore, the existence of football is possible, among other things, thanks to our President. If he was not interested in this game, he would have put it off for later. But then it would have been impossible to restore football.
Everyone is united, and that's how it should be. We have the same enemy, and everyone should help - everyone in any way they can. Former Dynamo players Aliyev and Vashchuk are doing their part to defend our country. Aliyev's interview was the words of a real man who, having "roots" in Russia, does not want to talk to his father. This inspires great respect in me, I have watched this interview twice.
- How do you plan to celebrate the anniversary?
- I will not celebrate the anniversary, I will gather my family at home, we will have a drink to the victory, so that we can live normally, play football, and have the audience in the stands. It cannot end any other way - it will only be our victory, and nothing else.
