AS Poissy, a French fourth division club, has launched an unprecedented initiative in France: rescue professional soccer players from the Ukrainian League from the war, so far six.
All of them come from the second-tier club FC Alians, based in the city of Sumy, in the northeast of the country and one of the first to be besieged by Russian troops. Also three weeks ago, his coach, Youri Yaroshenko, 61, a former professional soccer player for FC Zoryá Luhansk, traveled to Poissy.
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“We have hardly slept since the war began, now morally and psychologically we are better, although the head is still in Ukraine,” told the coach, who attended EFE during a training session held at the headquarters of his new club, in Poissy, a city on the outskirts of Paris.
With the help of an interpreter, Yaroshenko observes the training in the entity’s sports center, without giving directions.
The veteran does not act as such, as the club already has its main coach, Walid Aichour.
The Ukrainian coach is a help for the adaptation of his compatriots.
“If the war goes on for a long time, we will stay here, although we hope it will end quickly. What is happening there is still a tragedy,” Yaroshenko referred, who thanked the hospitality and commitment of the president of Poissy, Olivier Szewczuk. Ukrainian on his father’s side, Szewczuk spent several thousand euros out of his own pocket to bring the players and the coach from Turkey, the country where they were doing the preseason when the war broke out on February 24.
Social and legal help
“We couldn’t bring twenty, in the end it was left at six. The rest of the staff is in different places,” explained the leader, owner of a small business and who has counted on the financial contribution of other companies for his initiative.
It has also been involved in finding accommodation for soccer players and helping them with the bureaucratic part to legalize them. Szewczuk, however, is concerned about the delay in processing the documents and, above all, because they still cannot debut due to the lack of the approved professional record.
“I don’t know how long they are going to last like this, these people are professionals and train to play. A Frenchman who played in Ukraine has the automatic card to return, but a Ukrainian who comes here does not,” he lamented.
The most talented Ukrainian player of the six recruited by Poissy is Kostyantyn Yaroshenko, who trained at Shakhtar Donestk and is a Ukrainian under-21 international.
“When we train we forget what is happening there, even if it’s only for half an hour,” Yaroshenko said, shortly after training ended on Thursday.
The skilled midfielder, 35, son of coach Youri, said he was adapting well to Poissy and he was surprised by the level of the club, which travels in semi-professionalism.
“In Ukraine, a fourth-tier club doesn’t have Poissy’s level, not even remotely,” stated the footballer, who admires Zidane and Iniesta. For goalkeeper Yaroslav Vazhynskyi, also coming from the Shakhtar academy, the personal situation is tense.
“I have my wife and son in the country and I miss that a lot. Only when I enter the field do I forget everything”, certified the 28-year-old keeper.
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EFE
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