Former commercial director of “Dnipro-1” Vyacheslav Friedman talked about his attitude towards the information about the creation of a new football club in Dnipro — “Dnipro 1918”.
— Please comment on the information about the creation of a new football club “Dnipro 1918” in Dnipro and the interview with its founder Anton Akhmetov. What emotions and thoughts did this evoke for you?
— It immediately evoked negative emotions for me because we do not know such a person. In general, all those who can create a more or less professional club in Dnipro — their names are well-known. These are people who are ready to invest money.
Secondly, the surname is football-related. He could have called himself either Akhmetov, or Surkis, or Butkevich, or Yaroslavsky, but it immediately raised suspicion that something is not right here.
Some kind of company was created with a charter capital of 10,000 hryvnias, a limited liability company named Football Club “Dnipro 1918”. But this name means nothing. There are no actions. There should be specific steps, organizational points that people should know about.
— What else alarmed you?
— There should have been some understandable public position — where they plan to play, where to base themselves, what resources they intend to spend, when they will submit an application to participate in amateur tournaments.
But here — nothing. Unfortunately, the information spread very quickly, like hot pies across internet sites. All serious media published it very quickly. People were writing to me, sending messages, asking what this was about.
This gave hope to Dnipro fans, and I do not want to deceive them. If this is a serious project — then, of course, there should be football in the city, spectators in the stands, a team that people cheer for. Here someone simply decided to promote themselves — and it turned out what it turned out. We need to get to the bottom of everything and, of course, refute this information.
— Have you heard anything at all about the revival of professional football in Dnipro, not in the context of this new club?
— I have heard nothing. I even know that some people were interested in the question of reviving a professional club. Where to train, where to create a base, which stadium to play at.
I maintain contact with “PrivatBank”. And “PrivatBank” says that no one has approached them regarding the rental of a football base in Dnipro or stadiums that belong to them.
Playing on sites built by Pavelko, where everyone plays 6 on 6 — this is not professional football.
— Do you think the new club should be a successor to FC “Dnipro” or is that not necessary?
— I think that if a truly serious football project arises, then it would be possible to talk about transferring the emblem of FC “Dnipro”, which currently, if I am not mistaken, belongs to the academy. We need to talk to the owner of the emblem; you all know his name.
And it would be possible to discuss the transfer of the name of the club itself, so that it would not be associated with the former owner. There is Italian experience, the experience of other countries where clubs have revived and gone through purification.
My opinion is that the owner of the emblem will meet halfway if a truly serious project arises and will transfer the emblem, colors, and so on.
— Do you think, as a person close to the former owner of the club, that new investors are really afraid to enter “Dnipro” because of Kolomoisky?
— I have spoken with him many times (Kolomoisky, — ed.) on this topic. For the last two years, communication has been difficult, almost impossible. But earlier I heard this: if a serious owner appears, then various options can be considered.
After all, he is not an enemy of himself to harm the city. Yes, some unpleasant moments have occurred in his life, and because of that he decided to leave football. But that he would deliberately harm — I do not believe in that.
Igor Lysenko