Ukraine risks embarrassment with the image of Crimea on the national team's T-shirts
If the Ukrainian team shows a good result at the European Championship, then the map of Ukraine with Crimea on the players’ uniform will be perceived as a positive signal; if the result is bad, then the politicization of football will turn against Ukraine.
Political scientist Alexander Semchenko stated this in a comment to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Everything will depend on how the team plays on the field. If there is a result, then no form will harm or help it. If there is no result, then all the spiteful critics will let it all down, including the form. Football is a game, the team is going to the European Championship and all this is a purely football story that will either strengthen this entire political story or, on the contrary, refute it.
Therefore, the politicization of history with a map of Ukraine on a uniform can play both for and against those who like it and those who don’t like it. The result of the championship is very difficult to predict. At the last championship, the Ukrainian team showed a poor result and did not make it out of the group. In other years, it showed good results, for example in 2008, when Ukraine participated in the World Cup and reached the quarterfinals.
Therefore, if there is a good result, then the Ukrainian side can say: “you see, it was Crimea in the form that brought us to a good result.” Football fortune, like any other, is very changeable, and betting on this Crimean card is quite risky because you can later find yourself in a bad situation,” the political scientist concluded.
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