The stadium administration in Paris kicked a soldier out of the stands for the Ukrainian flag. This incident occurred during the match between PSG and Angers on August 22, 2025. Throughout the first half, the staff argued and demanded for unclear reasons to remove the flag of Ukraine. Our soldier refused and left the match early.
“He contacted the project “Dnipryanyn” to give publicity to this Parisian disgrace. Here is the direct speech of our soldier with the call sign “Dnipryanyn”:
“Hello, I am a soldier and decided to fly to the best European stadiums during my leave. For the first match, I visited Paris, at the “Parc des Princes” stadium. Before the stadium, I bought a PSG scarf for 25 euros out of respect for the club.
Upon entering the stands, I took out the flag of our country and wrapped it around myself. After 5 minutes, the stewards approached and asked me to leave the stands. When we went out, they asked whose flag it was; I said — Ukraine, Ilya Zabarnyi, to which they replied: okay, you can continue watching. I returned to the stands, but that was just the beginning. After another ten minutes, stewards and some higher-level people approached us again. We went out again, and I asked: “What’s the problem?”. They asked me to explain what the symbol on the flag means. Our Trident was depicted on the flag!
I speak French poorly, so I started to show them on my phone what our coat of arms means. While I was trying to do this, a guard in a bulletproof vest ran up to us. His uniform differed from the stewards’ uniforms. As I understood, he was one of the security managers at the match. He began emotionally saying something to everyone in French, and I asked him: “What’s the problem?”. He responded: "Dear, give me a moment." And at that moment, I felt so pleased, as the person ran up and defended me; he probably saw this situation on the cameras. He is from Ukraine, he just lives and works in Paris.
After a heated conversation with them, I went back to watch the football. But not for long, after 10 minutes another security team came and asked me to take off the flag. I refused, and that guard ran up again and calmed them down. The fourth time, a whole delegation came to the stand, one of whom was even in a tuxedo, and when our Ukrainian started explaining to him about the flag, that one whispered something in his ear. My protector, let’s call him that, approached me and said: “The PSG management called and insists that you take down the flag.” I saw disdain for them in his eyes, but he is at work, I understand, I thank him very much. I replied that I am a soldier and that he understands what will happen now? He replied: “Yes, that’s your decision!”.
I took off the PSG scarf, there was one guard who very openly wanted me to take down the flag of Ukraine. As I was leaving the stand, I threw the scarf at him and said: “I gift it to you” (pointing down). His gaze was terrified, and that costs a lot. Ukrainians never give up! I left the stadium before halftime.
Ilya Zabarnyi is our Ukrainian; he was listed for this match, and they, it seems, are hearing about our country for the first time. I won’t even mention that we are at war!”.
What do you think of such shameful behavior from the stadium administration? There is also a question, why is Safonov still at PSG?,” said the message from the Telegram channel “Dnipryanyn”.
