How the Russia-Ukraine War Originally Started on the Football Field

Russia-Ukraine War Originally Started

Thousands have died, thousands have been displaced while no one can say for sure, when the hostilities will eventually end. The story of the Russo-Ukrainian war 2022. Unknown to many, the first sound of the gong of war, was first heard as far back as June 2021 and it arose from the football pitch.

Ukraine provoked Moscow’s ire in June 2021 as its football federation unveiled Euro 2020 uniforms that featured Russian-annexed Crimea and nationalist slogans.

The Euro 2020, Postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Euro 2020 was played from June 11 to July 11 across 11 cities including Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second city which hosted seven matches, including a quarter-final.

In a statement which went viral, Andriy Pavelko, the President of the Football Federation of Ukraine had said that Ukrainian players would be wearing “special uniforms” and posted photos of the jerseys in the blue-and-yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag.

The uniforms feature the silhouette of Ukraine that included Russia-annexed Crimea and the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as the words “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!”
“We believe that Ukraine’s silhouette will give strength to the players because they will fight for all of Ukraine,” Pavelko said.

The “Glory to Ukraine” slogan is a patriotic chant that became a rallying cry for protesters who ousted a Kremlin-backed leader, Viktor Yanukovych, during a popular uprising in 2014.
The revolt was condemned as illegal by Moscow and sparked a crisis in ties between the two neighbouring countries.

Russia annexed Crimea and supported Russia-speaking insurgents in Ukraine’s industrial east. The conflict had claimed the lives of over 13,000 people since 2014.
The “Glory to Ukraine” call and “Glory to the Heroes!” response are associated with Ukraine’s decades-old fight for independence.
The slogans have drawn criticism from Moscow for its association with World War II-era nationalist groups who both fought against and cooperated with the Nazis.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova then publicly derided the new uniforms of the ex-Soviet state, saying Ukraine’s football team “attached Ukraine’s territory to Russia’s Crimea.”
The design, she said, brings to mind the art technique of “trompe l’oeil” that tricks the eye and creates the “illusion of the impossible.”

Zakharova also said that Euro 2020 organisers and fans “should know” that the Ukrainian rallying cry “imitates” the infamous Nazi slogan.

“During the war this Nazi battle cry was used by regular and irregular nationalist Ukrainian armed units,” Zakharova said on messaging app Telegram.

UEFA responded by demanding that Ukraine make changes to their jersey for Euro 2020 to remove the “political” slogan that sparked protests from Russia.

European football’s governing body said the message “Glory to the Heroes,” a rallying cry during the 2014 anti-Russia protests in Ukraine that is featured inside the shirt, was “clearly political in nature.”

Russia welcomed the move, but the Ukrainian football association still went into talks with UEFA to reverse its decision to no avail.

The Ukrainians stressed that “earlier UEFA had approved the new kit and every element of it, including the slogan.”

The man now in the eye of the storm, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy just days before, had posted two photographs on Instagram of himself holding the jersey and said it bore “many important symbols that unify the Ukrainian people.”
The presidential press service then released a selfie Zelenskiy took of himself wearing the jersey.

“The Ukrainian national football team’s new jersey is in fact not like the others,” Zelenskiy had said.

UEFA may have further escalated the issues by saying that the map would not need to be removed or changed because a United Nations General Assembly Resolution “recognizes the territorial borders as broadly depicted by the design.”

The slogan “Glory to Ukraine” UEFA claimed, was originally approved because “on its own (it) may be considered as a generic and non-political phrase of general national significance.”

Russia hailed UEFA’s decision, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying “sport is not a battlefield, rather it is a field for competition.”
“Become sporting heroes and you will have glory. Do it that way and not with nationalist slogans saying the motherland should be glorified,” Zakharova wrote again on Telegram.

Ukraine led by Andriy Shevchenko eventually played to the quater-final stage of the EURO 2020 championship, recording a stunning 2-1 victory against Sweden in the round of 16 before bowing to England 0-4 in the quater-finals.

FIFA has announced that Ukraine’s mini-bracket semifinal against Scotland for a Qatar 2022 FIFA World cup qualifier is postponed until the June international window, accepting a request submitted by the besieged nation.

Ukraine is not subject to any ban from FIFA, but the decision has been made on security grounds and a lack of player availability.

Russia however has been eliminated following the elevation of their supposed opponent, Poland into the last round of the qualifiers.

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