Oleh Pechornyi, the head of the Footballers Association of Ukraine, spoke to 1927.kiev.ua about the difficult situation at Zorya Luhansk.
- "I communicate with Zorya players. They are owed part of their salaries for this year and part of their bonuses for last year and 2024. Because of this, some players did not take part in the match against Dynamo. We are currently deciding how to proceed, because the situation at Zorya is critical. It may follow the path of Dnipro and Lviv FC, which is a recent example, and the path of other clubs that fade into oblivion after the end of the championship. To avoid such a situation, this issue must be resolved promptly and in accordance with the law.
"Zorya is not the last team in the championship. Moreover, the Luhansk region is under occupation. I urge Andriy Shevchenko and the UAF to pay attention to this situation and help resolve the issue. Zorya may go bankrupt this summer.
I would also like to tell Mr Heller that he faces criminal liability for failure to fulfil his contractual obligations. The club must pay off the players.
The situation with football clubs like Lviv and Zorya Luhansk shows that the social welfare of footballers in the UPL is at zero. This is savagery, it's just the bottom. This should not be the case in a country that is going to the EU, so if the UAF does not pay attention to the social protection of footballers in the UPL, we will appeal to UEFA, FIFA and FIFPro. I understand that the match of the national team of Ukraine against Bosnia and Herzegovina is coming up, but a situation like the one with Zorya cannot be left like this," Pechorny said.