Semi-final Russia – Ukraine: will the match take place?

At the European Futsal Championship, an event that was far from typical for the world of sports in recent years took place - the teams of Russia and Ukraine were drawn together.

Now the two teams will have to compete for a ticket to the finals of the tournament in a head-to-head match, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

It is noteworthy that since 2014, at almost all international tournaments, the Russian and Ukrainian teams were separated by the organizers in order to avoid a meeting between them. However, sometimes teams from these countries played. So, in September last year, in the quarterfinals of the European Volleyball Championship, Ukraine lost to Russia with a score of 3:1 (21:25, 25:16, 25:22, 25:22). A few days earlier, the Russian women's beach soccer team played with the Ukrainians in the Euroleague superfinal; the Russians also won here with a score of 4:2.

“Our team [in the semifinals] will play with the same dedication. We’ll give everything for Ukraine!”, commented the captain of the Ukrainian futsal team Petr Shoturma about the victory in the quarterfinals over the Kazakhs with a score of 5:3.

True, at that time it was not yet known who his team would have to play in the semifinals - Russia or Georgia. As a result, the Russians defeated the Georgians with a score of 3:1 and advanced to Ukraine.

Note that last year Ukraine banned its beach soccer team from traveling to Russia, where the world championship in this sport was held. This time, given that the tournament is taking place in the Netherlands, the meeting will most likely take place.

The famous Ukrainian football player Vladislav Vashchuk, who played most of his life for Dynamo Kiev, the national team and for a short time in Moscow at Spartak, hopes that political differences between the countries will not affect the game.

“First of all, this is a sports competition. Politics has long been involved in sports, they are trying to make some restrictions. But I expect, first of all, an uncompromising game, as Russia and Ukraine have always played before. So that everything is on the field. And behind the football field, they just shook hands and went their separate ways,” Vashchuk told the Gazeta.ru portal.

However, he does not rule out provocations.

“It may not be possible to do without provocations - although, it seems to me, there is some third party present here. But the tournament is taking place in Holland, not in Ukraine or Russia. Accordingly, no one will be able to prevent [provocations] if they occur. They can promise, yes, but they are fighting with us, they are fighting with you, but they cannot cope. But I hope that this game will be just a game, and not a political platform for disputes, that there will be no reason to pit the sides against each other,” the footballer concluded.

Another well-known Ukrainian football player in the past, Maxim Kalinichenko, who played for the national team, Dnepr and Moscow Spartak, is not sure that the match will take place at all.

“For many, this is an expected confrontation, but until the game officially takes place, I don’t believe that it exists and will happen. Because what is happening between our countries now does not add confidence that the match can take place. During the game, the players will definitely not think about politics, they will play to win, but before and after the game there is no escape from it - the match will be extremely politicized. Already now, “political scientists” of all stripes will be preparing a TV show based on this semi-final,” Kalinichenko told the Match TV channel.

And Artem Frankov, a well-known sports journalist in Ukraine, editor of the Football magazine, believes that there is no need to abandon the match, since the Ukrainians “have taken too long to achieve such success.”

“Giving up the game is stupid. Our players won’t just give up the semi-finals without a fight. I really hope that politics will not be involved in any way in this wonderful sporting event. This will not be just a match, but a little more. This match, of course, will be important, but nothing more. And even if the Ukrainian team loses, nothing bad will happen. Probably, the Russian team will approach this match as a favorite. I expect a crazy intensity of passions and high-quality football!” Frankov told Sport Express.

But not everyone in Ukraine was able to refrain from insults.

“Look, Muscovites have learned to play football,” Kiev political strategist Taras Berezovets, who serves the interests of ex-President Petro Poroshenko, commented on the upcoming semi-final.

It is worth noting that in the ranking of men's futsal teams, Russia ranks first, Ukraine – eighth.

The game will take place on February 4 at 19-00 Moscow time. The live broadcast in Russia will be shown by the Match TV and Match! A game".

In Ukraine, the game will be shown on the TV channels “UA:Pershy” and “Suspilne Sport” at 18-00 Kyiv time.