Donetsk 'Shakhtar' decided to respond to an interview by Kyiv 'Dynamo' president Ihor Surkis. However, this reaction did not come from 'miners' leader Rinat Akhmetov, but from one of his hired employees — the club’s general director Serhiy Palkin. The 'Shakhtar' president himself chose to remain silent.
Nevertheless, here are the key points of 'Shakhtar' employee’s 'speech'. Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of the funny simulation by Donetsk club player Yukhym Konoplia, a fan of Russian content. Instead, there was room for surprise. But who in Ukrainian football is interested in Palkin’s surprise?
«Frankly speaking, I am surprised by Mr. Surkis’s comments. Let’s look at our last two matches with 'Dynamo.' Undoubtedly, they were emotional — that’s why we love football. Experts and fans unanimously note that there haven’t been such bright and tense classics for a long time. This is important today for Ukrainian football.
If we evaluate not the emotions, but the game itself, in both matches 'Shakhtar' looked stronger than the opponent (Akhmetov’s subordinate is not bothered by presenting his subjective opinion as the ultimate truth; however, this has long been recognized as the style of the Donetsk club, — ed. note). In the first, cup match, one team — 'Shakhtar' — dominated the field for two-thirds of the meeting. In the end, 'Dynamo' was able to capitalize on our mistakes and progress, and we accepted this defeat with dignity and shook hands. The second match — in the championship — confirmed that this game dominance was no coincidence: we deservedly won and offered fans not just a result, but beautiful, meaningful football.
Mr. Surkis said: „I was silent for a long time.“ But as soon 'Dynamo' lost in the championship for the first time in a year and a half — and we hear loud emotional statements.
At 'Shakhtar', we have been talking about refereeing issues for a long time and consistently. At the same time, we note quality work by referees when it truly deserves recognition, as it was after the cup match, which our head coach Arda Turan spoke about. Regarding the last game with 'Dynamo', in our view, there were officiating errors. Specifically, the opponent’s goal was scored with a rules violation: a 'Dynamo' player was offside. We are officially addressing the Referees Committee regarding this episode. Also, the episode with Yarmolenko, when he grabbed Valeriy Bondar by the throat and effectively strangled him, clearly called for a dismissal, but went unnoticed.
The refereeing issue is indeed sharp, and most clubs talk about it. Everyone — except 'Dynamo.' And it is noteworthy that they started to raise it only after their first defeat. At 'Shakhtar,' we prefer to speak not with emotions, but with facts,» Palkin’s 'speech' says on the official 'Shakhtar' website.