Mark Temnycky is an accredited freelance journalist covering Eastern Europe and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Britain has been one of the fiercest critics of Russia’s illegal and devastating invasion of Ukraine.
It is not only politicians in the UK, who have sent invaluable aid, and have spoken out loudly and clearly, but every sector of British society has lent its voice in opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s aggression. This includes sport.
British sporting bodies were clear from the outset that Russia should be excluded from international competitions. Teams and competitors across many disciplines have united in expressions of solidarity for Ukraine, as well as raising much-needed funds.
Players of Dynamo Kyiv pictured on their peace tour around Europe ahead of their match in Turkey against Galatasaray
As a Ukrainian-American, I deeply appreciate this support, and I know from relatives and friends in Ukraine how much it means to them. But more can be done.
Ukraine needs Britain’s iconic football clubs to follow the lead set by other famous teams across Europe to set up fixtures with Dynamo Kyiv in the ‘Match for Peace! Let’s Stop the War!’ series.
The Ukrainian club has organized a peace tour, which is seeing Dynamo travel across Europe to play some of the continent’s top sides through June. (Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk is running a similar campaign.)
Funds received from these friendly matches, which kicked off with a fixture against Legia Warsaw on April 12 in front of 18,000 fans, are used to help Ukrainians in need. But they also create platforms for ordinary people to protest against Russia’s barbarism, and to send a message to Putin that he will not prevail.
The matches are raising money for the people of Ukraine and providing a platform for protest
Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and AC Milan are among the clubs to have agreed to play Dynamo. But English and Scottish clubs are yet to appear in the list of fixtures. I would urge them to participate in this peace tour.
Manchester City are reportedly in discussion with the Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu, which is welcome news, but even that is far from certain.
‘We not only want to play Manchester City, we’re open to invitations from more clubs in England, as it’s been one of the countries that condemned the war fiercely,’ Lucescu told the BBC this month.
‘We spoke to Pep and we thank him for his willingness to play a match, but we’ll have to see based on City’s schedule.’
Hopefully a date will be found, but what about those goliaths of European football, Manchester United and Liverpool, or the former European Cup winners Glasgow Celtic or Aston Villa?
Thousands have attended the games, which have been held in Romania, Poland and Turkey
And wouldn’t it send a resounding signal if the current champions of Europe, soon to be formerly owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, were to throw their hat in the ring?
The fact is, the English Premier League and its elite clubs are the most-watched in the world. Their involvement in a ‘Match for Peace’ will elevate the profile of this historic initiative to another level – and the funds that can be raised.
It may be that clubs are reluctant to engage with the goodwill tour at this stage, concerned with the business end of their season. There could be concerns over the number of fixtures teams will have already played, or have to play, or the intensity of next season, when players will be involved in the World Cup.
However, these practical considerations, while important, surely pale when compared to the reality of the situation in Ukraine.
Over the past eight weeks, thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed by Russian forces. More than one thousand Ukrainian soldiers have died during the war, and nearly 12 million Ukrainians are displaced.
But while some of the continent’s biggest clubs have signed up to play, British clubs have not
On a sporting level, athletes are fighting to protect Ukraine or to care for their compatriots. Some sportsmen have already died.
Former Ukrainian footballers Vitalii Sapylo and Dmytro Martynenko and former biathlete Yevhen Malyshev have been killed in the war as they proudly fought for their country.
Many are raising money, running events, auctioning their Olympic and Paralympic medals, or in the case of tennis player Elina Svitolina, donating her prize money from the Monterrey Open to the Ukrainian army.
Andriy Yarmolenko, the captain of Ukraine’s senior men’s national team and a player at English club West Ham United, donated £75,000 to the Ukrainian army.
Matches and competitions for most Ukrainian footballers and athletes have ceased, of course. Only a few male competitors, such as the Dynamo team, have been given a special dispensation to leave the country, instead of facing the enemy.
The matches have boosted Ukraine as it resists President Valdimir Putin’s invasion
Most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 to 60 have ‘been banned from leaving the country’ as Ukraine is under martial law. They have been told to stay behind so that they can defend their homeland.
These are desperate times.
But English football and its fans, who have already opened their hearts to the Ukrainian people, can help again. Ukrainians urge those mighty clubs to join the goodwill tour.
Their solidarity will never be forgotten.
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