Ukraine is trying to disrupt a football match in St. Petersburg
Well-known Ukrainian football players Oleg Blokhin (former member of the “anti-Orange” bloc “Not So!”) and Igor Belanov (former member of the pro-Russian Odessa Rodina party) sent a letter to the football players of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team calling on them to refuse a friendly match with the Russian national team.
The head of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), Andrey Pavelko, spoke about this on social networks, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The Golden Ball winners Oleg Blokhin and Igor Belanov appealed to the players of the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a request not to participate in such a match. The UAF Executive Committee called on the leadership of the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina to stand in solidarity with the entire civilized football world, which has suspended teams from Russia from international competitions under the auspices of UEFA and FIFA,” Pavelkokh wrote.
However, UEFA did not speak out against the match in Russia, since friendly matches are not within the competence of this organization.
The decision to hold the match with Russia was made by the Emergency Situations Committee of the Football Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was adopted by a majority vote. Five people spoke in favor of the game with the Russian national team, only the vice-president of the federation, Irfan Duric, was against it.
“We received a request from Russia and another country. We sent a letter to UEFA and they told us that they do not prohibit friendly games. This is not the best option for our country. They were guided by UEFA's response. I am guided by slightly different principles,” Duric said.
Bosnian footballers Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko also spoke out against the match.
Serbian football player Nemanja Pejcinovic believes that Russia should have agreed on a match with Serbia, and not with Bosnia.
“Now countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina are under American and Western control. This behavior on their part is quite logical. I think that Russia should agree with the Football Association of Serbia to hold a friendly match. Now the Russian national team needs to play matches, and the Serbs will not reject the RFU the way the Bosnians are trying to do,” Pejcinovic said.
The match between the Russian national team and Bosnia and Herzegovina will take place on November 19 in St. Petersburg. It is known that the Bosnian team will receive 200 thousand euros for the meeting. In addition, the transfer and accommodation will be paid for by the Russian Football Union.
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