Ukrainian football clubs continue to suffer from the war. Shakhtar Donetsk, the club that has enjoyed the most success on the national and European scene in recent decades, believes that Fifa is at least partly responsible for its financial woes, and is claiming 40 million euros from the body world football leader. A hearing will take place on Thursday December 22 at 9:30 a.m. before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.
In its circular N.1800 of June 2022, FIFA provides that “foreign players and coaches playing in Ukraine will be entitled to suspend their employment contract until June 30, 2023”, if they have not found a agreement with their club. As a result, many international players left Shakhtar Donetsk without financial compensation, according to Sergei Palkin, the club’s general manager. This is particularly the case of the Brazilians Douglas Costa, Fred, Dentinho and Alex Tereira.
In a new circular, dated July 2, 2022 and responding to the first, Fifa admitted that Ukrainian clubs “could thus have to face a large number of departures, caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the war In progress. She wanted to make sure that the “interests of the players but also of the Ukrainian clubs are protected. »
However, she believed that the departure of these internationals was “an inevitable consequence of the situation in Ukraine as well as the decision of the FIFA Council to grant a temporary exemption” to its usual rules on transfers.