Everyone knows that football, the most popular sport on the planet, can sometimes be used to convey political messages. The latest example: Ukraine, which has reiterated to its Russian neighbor its refusal to consider Crimea annexed, since the Russian coup de force seven years ago. Thanks to a simple but very symbolic jersey. Questioned by Moscow, UEFA imposed to modify it. In part only.
- The facts: the jersey of discord
Ukraine presented its outfit for Euro 2020 on Sunday, postponed to this summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In appearance, this one is relatively classic. The logo of the federation and the traditional yellow color that characterizes the team on a continental scale appear there. But there is something else: a map, drawn in the background, which represents the limits of the country as it officially recognizes them. However, these borders also include Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as eastern territories, controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Also included are the slogans “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!”, Formulas taken from a patriotic song and became a rallying cry during the popular uprising of Maidan in 2014, which ousted a president supported by the Kremlin , Viktor Yanukovych.
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UEFA, which organizes the tournament, first told AFP on Monday that these Ukrainian national team outfits had been approved “in accordance with the relevant regulations”. The latter indicates that no equipment should “undermine common decency or convey political, religious or race-related messages.”
- Why it matters: angry Russia
Russia did not like the message very much. Moscow announced Tuesday evening that it had sent a letter to UEFA to denounce this new jersey of the Ukrainian selection for Euro football. “Football is a sport that must always be kept out of politics,” said the press service of the Russian Football Federation (RFS), as quoted by Russian news agencies.
Besides the case of Crimea and the Controlled Territories, Moscow associates the slogans with WWII nationalist groups that fought the Soviets. “By approving such an outfit, UEFA is setting a precedent, because at a next big tournament, we could see other countries trying to use their equipment for political purposes,” said the Russian federation. at dawn the competition, where the two selections can meet at the earliest in the quarter-finals. Because Ukraine will be in Group C and Russia in Group B.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the outfit, posting a photo on Instagram on Tuesday evening where he poses with the new jersey. “The new jersey of the Ukrainian football team is indeed like no other. It can be shocking. It has several important symbols that unite Ukrainians,” he wrote on the social network, owned by Facebook.
- The outcome: forced changes
Called upon by Russian protests, UEFA finally imposed a modification of Ukraine’s jersey on Thursday, on the eve of the tournament’s opening, ultimately deeming the words “Glory to our heroes” to be “political”. “After further analysis”, this slogan appearing “inside the collar” of the Ukrainian tunic is “clearly of a political nature” and “must therefore be withdrawn (…) in view of the competitive matches of the UEFA, “the body told AFP.
Moscow said it was satisfied with this decision. “Be sports heroes and you will have the glory, it is thus and not with nationalist slogans that you will honor the motherland”, estimated at the address of Ukraine, the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, reacting on Telegram. UEFA, on the other hand, validated the Ukraine map appearing on the jersey, recalling that it corresponded to the country’s internationally recognized borders. She also rejected the Russian protest against the slogan “Glory to Ukraine”, approved by UEFA since 2018 and which “can be considered a generic and apolitical phrase”, if it is analyzed in isolation.
- The context: tensions still present between the two nations
This geopolitical dispute over a football background finds its source in the recent tensions between the two countries. At the beginning of April, Russian maneuvers on the Ukrainian border and in Crimea had alerted Europe, which feared an attack on Kiev. Before, finally, that Russia begins its withdrawal a few weeks later.
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More broadly, the conflict between the two countries has been going on since the Donbass war of 2014, never finally extinguished despite German-French mediation in 2015. To date, more than 13,000 people have been killed in clashes.
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