Ukraine’s football association will appeal a sanction ordering Ukraine to play its next World Cup qualifier in an empty stadium because of racist and threatening fan behavior during a Sept. 6 game, said Serhiy Storozhenko, first vice president of the Football Federation of Ukraine.
Citing a number of discriminatory, racist and safety
infractions, world soccer governing body FIFA on Sept. 27 also fined Ukraine
$50,000. Additionally, the regulator banned the national soccer team from
playing in the Lviv Arena stadium for the next World Cup qualifying cycle.
FIFA launched an investigation after Ukraine’s 9-0 lopsided
victory over San Marino in Lviv on Sept. 6. Its findings were based on reports
by the match referee, commissioner and a delegate from Football Against Racism
in Europe.
“We will challenge the actual assessment and severity of the
punishment,” said Storozhenko at a press briefing at the House of Football. “Our
chances are slim of FIFA reversing its decision on the spectator ban on Oct. 11
in Kharkiv against Poland.
“Make no mistake, however, there is no place for political
statements or political expressions in football,” he added acknowledging all
but one of FIFA’s findings on racism and Nazi chants and salutes.
According to FIFA’s Sept. 11 letter addressed to FFU and
seen by the Kyiv Post, there were nine incidents of pyrotechnical devise use,
which contravenes the governing body’s match safety regulations.
The letter then reported that a banner of the “14th
SS-Volunteer Division ‘Galizien’ from World War II” was displayed, a division
initially made up of Ukrainians that fought for Nazi Germany, and which bears a
lion and Ukraine’s national colors of blue and yellow.
FIFA’s disciplinary code bans the display of political
paraphernalia.
“This is their (FIFA’s) interpretation, what they fail to
see is that Lviv is considered the city of lions,” said Storozhenko.
Lviv’s founder, King Danylo Halytsky, named the city in his
son’s honor, Lev (lion), hence the name of Lviv. Two lion statues stand in
front of Lviv’s city hall, and the city’s coat of arms bears an image of a
lion.
Storozhenko joined FIFA in denouncing other incidents,
including a banner that read “Good Night Left Side,” which featured brass
knuckles and a razor blade. The slogan is widely displayed by neo-Nazi groups
around Europe to incite violence against “left” anti-fascists and mark a
far-right presence, stated FIFA.
FIFA also noticed that an estimated “group of 30 people made
monkey noises and moves with their hands” after Ukrainian international
Brazil-born Edmar scored. Afterward, a person displayed a t-shirt with a big
“88” on the front, a neo-Nazi code widely used to signify “Heil Hitler”
referring to the eighth letter in the Latin alphabet – H.
“This code is widely used by the neo-Nazis worldwide. The
man remained standing in the same place until the end of the match,” stated
FIFA.
FIFA noted that all of the incidents took place in two
blocks of the stadium: 09A and 10A.
“Out of the 35,000 spectators in the Lviv match, three to
nine stupid people were present,” said Storozhenko. “We believe that singular
radicals cannot be a testament to all of Ukraine’s society, the issue isn’t
about the colors of flags, it’s just that politics is forbidden in football.
“A person who drives behind the wheel of an automobile must
know the rules of the road, why don’t soccer fans do this when they attend
matches?”
Kyiv Post editor Mark
Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
