Foreign footballers keep fleeing Ukrainian clubs ( Archived) (1)

Jul 23, 2014 9:11 PM CST Foreign footballers keep fleeing Ukrainian clubs
PurpleRain_
PurpleRain_PurpleRain_Partido de Alte Brown Sur, Buenos Aires Argentina3 Threads 2 Polls 27 Posts
Foreign footballers keep fleeing Ukrainian clubs
citing security concerns




Another three Argentinean football players
from Ukraine’s Metalist Kharkiv FC decided
against returning to conflict-hit Ukraine
and stay in Argentina citing security concerns,
local Argentinean media reported on Tuesday.


Midfielders Alejandro Gomez, Jose Sosa and
forward Jonatan Cristaldo are currently staying
in Argentina’s Buenos Aires. Their Metalist FC
teammate and compatriot Sebastian Blanco also
refused earlier to return to Ukraine.


“There is no sense remaining in the country
[in Ukraine], where we do not feel secure,”
Gomez told local media. “We are going to remain
in Argentina either until the situation stabilizes
or until our contracts cancelled.”


The Argentinean midfielder said the
catastrophe with the Malaysia Airlines aircraft,
which crashed in southeastern Ukraine
last Thursday killing all 298 people on board,
was the “last straw to break the camel’s back”
forcing three of them to make such decision.

“I have a wife and a little son and
I cannot subject their lives to danger,”
Gomez said adding that he along with
Sosa and Cristaldo count on Metalist
FC managers and FIFA executives’ understanding.

The foreign players’ refusal to continue
playing for Ukrainian football clubs is
not the first in the recent days.

Six foreign players from the
Dontesk Shakhtar FC skipped the
plane back to Ukraine after a
friendly against Lyon FC on Saturday
and decided to remain in France
rather than returning to conflict
stricken Ukraine also citing security concerns.


Brazilian's Douglas Costa,
Fred, Dentinho, Alex Teixiera,
Ismaily and Argentinian
Facundo Ferreyra had their
combined transfer deals at
the Shakhtar FC worth a total
of 57 million euros ($77 million).


CNN reported on Sunday that
Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov
threatened with financial penalties
for the players in case they refuse
to continue playing for the club,
which is scheduled to play rivals
Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.


"Players have contracts
that they have to abide by,”
CNN quoted Akhmetov as saying.
“If they do not come, I think,
they will be the first to suffer.
Each of them has a minimum release
clause, which is tens of millions of euro.”


"If someone wants to reduce this amount
by a million, then such a decision is
our right," he added.

AP news agency reported on Tuesday
citing 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder
Douglas Costa that Shakhtar FC
foreign players, who went AWOL
from the club on Saturday,
wanted to practice in Switzerland
while the conflict continues in
Ukraine and they were not seeking
transfers to other football clubs.


"I like the club, the people, the city,
but I'm afraid," AP quoted Costa as saying
on his Instagram account.
"We want to stay at the club,
but we must have risk-free working conditions."

Costa added that he and his teammates
are "all run a deadly risk if we are in the region."

Commenting on the situation on Monday,
Russian sports lawyer Mikhail Prokopets
said it would be up either to FIFA’s
Dispute Resolution Chamber or the Court
of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
in Switzerland’s Lausanne to resolve
the situation with six AWOL football players.

“An employer must provide safety
for the players and it is an issue
open for debates whether the safety
was provided or not. Both the administration
of the Shakhtar FC and its players have
arguments in their favor,” he said.
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