You're reading: Shakhtar, Metalist fear for future of Ukrainian football if joint league created

Director General of FC Shakhtar Donetsk Serhiy Palkin has said that the club will take into account the interests and opinions of the Ukrainian football community in the issue of the possible creation of a joint Ukrainian-Russian league.

“If the joint league is currently advantageous to FC Shakhtar but disadvantageous to Ukrainian football, we will not join it,” he said in an interview with the Big Football program on Ukraina Channel late on Sunday.

“The vision of our club begins with the words ‘to be an ambassador of Ukrainian football in the world.’ This is our basic position. And then we have to sit down and openly discuss with the entire Ukrainian football community about whether it’s necessary to support the joint league or not, and what are all of its pros and cons,” Palkin added.

Director General of FC Metalist Kharkiv Serhiy Volyk, in turn, stressed the need to think about the consequences of the creation of such a tournament.

“This is a huge project in a completely new format. You have to understand all legal and sporting consequences, as well as the consequences of what remains in Ukraine and Russia and what happens to the clubs that will don’t play in this league. We are not a separate club, and we are part of the football family, the football system,” he said.

“It’s currently unclear what happens to the clubs that will not participate in this league. Will there be an interest in developing football? I’m talking about them, because this is our country and these are our children who are being brought up here. If Shakhtar, Metalist and Dnipro stop coming to other cities, I think the interest in football in these cities will be much lower,” Volyk said.

In November 2012, Palkin said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine that he considered it impossible to currently hold the CIS league, but believes that the joint cup of Ukraine and Russia could be introduced from the 2013-2014 season.

He recalled that in April 2012 the issue of creating such a tournament was discussed in Donetsk at a regional meeting of the European Club Association (ECA).