Los Angeles - Kyiv, October 13 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - Due to the civil war in Ukraine, the season in the Ukrainian Premier League is under threat, journalists from the Los Angeles Times believe.
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Three major football teams fled Donetsk because of the war, one of which, the richest club in Eastern Europe, Shakhtar. Now the team's players and staff are living out of suitcases in hotels in Kyiv, the team's training base was shelled, and the stadium, the famous Donbass Arena, was damaged.
Shakhtar plays its home matches in Lviv, which is reflected in the fan attendance at the game. So, last year the team that set a record in Eastern Europe for the sale of season tickets (27 thousand) suffered huge losses due to the cancellation of season tickets.
Last month, about 1200 fans came to the game with Olimpik in Lviv, while in Donetsk, on average, about 35 thousand came.
In addition to the three Donetsk teams, Zorya was forced to relocate from Lugansk, whose stadium also came under fire. Ukrainian clubs are also suffering the loss of multimillion-dollar foreign players who refuse to return to Ukraine. Six expensive South American legionnaires fled from Shakhtar, four legionnaires refused to return to Metalist Kharkov, the club itself came under severe pressure due to political pressure on its owner, oligarch Kurchenko. All clubs, without exception, believe journalists from the American publication, are suffering heavy losses and damages.
“Even though the Ukrainian Premier League has resumed, if the conflict does deepen again, the current season could be in danger,” Manuel Wef, an English expert on the economics and politics of Soviet and post-Soviet football, told the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times recalls that according to UEFA statistics, the Ukrainian Premier League was considered sixth after the largest national leagues on the European continent.