Oleksandr Ishchenko: "I asked Belik to behave properly. In response, I heard swearing: "I'll put you down here. I will kill you

A major scandal erupted after the central match of the 28th round of the Ukrainian U-19 Championship between Shakhtar and Dynamo (1-2). According to Dynamo's deputy general director Serhiy Mokhnyk, Shakhtar U-19 head coach Oleksiy Belik hit the 70-year-old head of Dynamo's children's and youth school Oleksandr Ishchenko. Oleksandr Ishchenko himself commented on the situation.

- I am surprised myself. I don't understand his aggression. I did not communicate with him, I was standing after the match, talking to the referees. Oleksiy Belik jumped out from behind the security guards standing near the referees, shouted obscenities, and hit me in the chest. It was good that Serhiy Mokhnyk and the former president of Arsenal were there. They held him back because he was ready to fight on. I was in shock. After all, I did nothing to provoke this situation. I was just standing there talking to other people. So it was a complete and unpleasant surprise for me.

- What was the reason for Aleksey Belik's aggression?

- I don't know. Maybe he is not a football coach, but a kickboxer... After the whistle blew, fans and teams ran onto the pitch, and there were some small clashes. But the security guards and team coaches managed to put out the fire.

But I can't explain Belik's aggressive behaviour towards me at all. It would be one thing if we had a verbal conflict beforehand... It was only after he attacked me that I asked him to behave properly. In response, I heard swearing: "I'll put you down here. I will kill you here". Our coach of the team born in 2010 was nearby and made a comment about his behaviour. In response, Belik said: "Let's go around the corner, I'll put you down here with one punch".

- Did the match delegate, the referee, record the fact of the conflict?

- The game was nervous, then these events... I don't know if they recorded the conflict in the protocol. After that, Vladimir Bezsonov and I left the stadium.

Andrii Pysarenko