Shakhtar Donetsk chief accuses FIFA of ‘never supporting Ukrainian football’ during Russia’s invasion – as he urges the governing body to hold firm in its commitment to bar teams from international competition

Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive’s has accused FIFA of failing to support Ukrainian football during Russia’s invasion of the country. 

Serhiy Palkin claimed the world governing body had kept its doors ‘closed to us’ and urged FIFA to create a fund to help maintain a sport in the country. 

Domestic football in Ukraine has managed to continue after an initial six-month pause but Palkin has now implored both FIFA and UEFA to hold firm on their commitment to bar Russian teams from international competitions amid the precarious political climate. 

‘From the beginning of the war FIFA never supported Ukrainian football,’ he told the Guardian. ‘They always had a slogan that we are one family, but it was not one family. They forgot about Ukrainian football completely.

‘We need to set up some kind of fund for Ukrainian football and the major donors should be FIFA. They should support us because we have a lot of destroyed infrastructure and a poor economic situation in the industry. It’s difficult to survive in these conditions and it’s strange they completely ignore what’s going on in Ukraine. For me, it’s some kind of shame.’

His comments come after a week of tense discussions between world leaders over the three-year conflict. Donald Trump branded Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator’ on Wednesday as the rift between the US and Ukraine deepened.

Palkin urged FIFA and UEFA to hold firm in their commitment to bar Russia teams from international competition. Pictured: (FIFA president Gianni Infantino alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2018)

Domestic football in Ukraine has managed to continue after an initial six-month pause

In a blistering attack that sparked international outrage, the US President warned Ukraine’s leader he ‘better move fast or he is not going to have a country left’.

Palkin’s latest comments are not the first time he has directed criticism towards world football’s top governing body. In 2022, he claimed FIFA were betraying Ukraine by maintaining lucrative television contracts with Russian broadcasters. 

He has even aimed his ire at top European clubs, accusing Tottenham of taking advantage of the war to sign winger Manor Solomon on a free in 2023.

Russia held the men’s World Cup in 2018 and in May 2019, Vladimir Putin presented FIFA president Gianni Infantino with the Order of Friendship to recognise his ‘enormous contribution’ to them hosting the tournament.

FIFA banned Russia from playing in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar following the invasion and UEFA banned Russia from taking part in Euro 2024.

Shakhtar sought £43m of damages from FIFA in 2022 after it ruled that foreign players in Ukraine could suspend their contracts because of the invasion. 

Palkin further alleged that FIFA have been reluctant to engage in a dialogue over Ukraine’s situation. 

He added: ‘FIFA’s door is always closed for us. We tried to knock at this door in the last three years but there were no answers at all. I contacted some people at a high level in football and they also tried to communicate with FIFA, but I don’t feel we have success.’