Official statement of FC Rukh

The press service of Lviv's Rukh has officially commented on the situation with the club's players being called up to the Ukrainian Olympic team:

"In recent days, there has been a lot of manipulative information in the media, saying that Rukh is not letting its players go to the Olympic Games. We want to clarify this situation and avoid double interpretations.

We would like to point out right away that the Ukrainian Football Association sent a letter inviting our club's players not to the Olympic Games, but to participate in a friendly tournament to be held in Toulon, France.

The coaching and medical staff of FC Rukh, together with the players, decided not to participate in the friendly tournament, given the difficult and exhausting season for our players, who finished the championship with injuries. The players, for most of whom this was their first full season in the UPL, have accumulated fatigue and there is a high risk of more complex injuries.

This decision was communicated in advance, a week before the final round of the UPL regular season, and agreed with the head coach of the Ukrainian Olympic team Ruslan Rotan and his coaching staff.

The club also noted that it was ready to release midfielder Oleh Fedor and defender Denys Slyusar, who had less playing practice and are in good condition, to the Olympic team for the friendly tournament. Unfortunately, in the last match of the championship, Denys Slyusar was injured and needs further treatment.

It should be added that the Ukrainian national team is scheduled to have a preparatory training camp before the Olympic Games, which will begin in early July.

Rukh Football Club is ready to delegate its players to the Olympic team to participate in the NTZ and the Olympic Games, if the Ukrainian national team needs them. It is important that the players of our club heal all their injuries, recover psychologically and defend the honour of our country at the Olympic Games in Paris in full combat readiness before the historic Games.

We consider this decision to be the best one and one that is in the best interests of the players and the Ukrainian Olympic team.