Rebels within the Ukrainian soccer federation backed out of attempts to oust controversial chief Hryhoriy Surkis after world and European football bosses threatened to bar the country’s teams from international competition.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) had stepped in to defend Surkis after what they called government pressure on collective members of the Ukrainian federation to vote him out.
UEFA had even hinted it could strip Ukraine of the right to host the Euro 2012 soccer tournament.
But the renegades backed down on Feb. 2, with 10 executive committee members of the soccer federation pledging in a letter to the international bodies, published on sports website Champion, to withdraw their demand that Surkis step down.
A handful of Ukraine’s soccer-crazed wealthy businessmen and their associates stand accused of trying to force out the longtime soccer boss through their close ties with state authorities.
Political experts tied the moves to attempts by current authorities to bring all power under their control.
Donetsk wants control over football. They’ve got everything except this. Kolesnikov wants to destroy Surkis.”– Ihor Miroshnychenko, a seasoned soccer announcer on television and blogger.
Acting on “clear evidence” that “strong pressure was exerted” by government representatives and others on the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU) before a Dec. 15 meeting, FIFA threatened to suspend Ukraine from soccer unless assurances were given by Feb. 4 that Surkis would be allowed to finish his term through 2012.
FIFA’s Jan. 24 letter of warning coincided with FIFA President Joseph Blatter’s telephone call to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to raise concerns.
On Feb. 2, Yanukovych said “state bodies didn’t pressure the FFU.”
A source close to Surkis, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment publicly, said Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov was behind the moves to remove the federation president.
Kolesnikov is a childhood friend and close associate of Ukraine’s richest man, billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who owns Donetsk’s Shakhtar soccer club. Currently recuperating from surgery, Kolesnikov declined to speak with the Kyiv Post, citing his medical condition. Akhmetov’s press service didn’t provide answers to Kyiv Post inquiries.
Yet Kolesnikov has never hidden his disdain for Surkis, whom he has publicly blamed for favoring his younger brother’s football club Dynamo Kyiv and using his position as soccer federation president to stifle competition.
The FFU source also identified multi-millionaire and Kharkiv Metalist soccer club owner Oleksandr Yaroslavsky as favoring Surkis’ removal. Yaroslavsky’s press service denied exerting any pressure, saying his huge investment in soccer infrastructure “speaks for his support.”
I don’t rule out the possibility that after the 2012 tournament Surkis will himself resign with the feeling that his mission – bringing and coordinating the 2012 tournament – has been accomplished.”
– Artem Frankov, chief editor of Ukraine’s Football magazine.
Soccer analysts said the move to remove Surkis was an attempt by Yanukovych’s business and political backers – a grouping which mostly hails from the eastern industrial heartland of Donetsk – to take over soccer.
“Donetsk wants control over football,” said Ihor Miroshnychenko, a seasoned soccer announcer on television and blogger.
“They’ve got everything except this. Kolesnikov wants to destroy Surkis,” Miroshnychenko said.
Surkis now appears safe until at least after the tournament in 2012, when his seat comes up for re-election.
Artem Frankov, chief editor of Ukraine’s Football magazine, said that may be a good time for Surkis to depart.
“I don’t rule out the possibility that after the 2012 tournament Surkis will himself resign with the feeling that his mission – bringing and coordinating the 2012 tournament – has been accomplished,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
