Shis story could match that of hundreds of thousands of other refugees who left Ukraine on 24 February. But, his is strong. In the columns of The TeamTetê, the right winger of Olympique Lyonnais confided in his departure from Chakhtar Donetsk, to join Poland, then “quite quickly” France.
Far from the stereotypes that stick to the skin of footballers, the top athlete from Brazil assures us that he was “aware” of the conflict already underway between Russia and Ukraine concerning the east of the country. “We were never in Donetsk, we played in kyiv. We felt this tension very well and we talked about it. For me, the war had already begun”. Then came the day of February 24. This day when, from Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to implement “a special operation” in eastern Ukraine. “It happened in the early morning. We didn’t think long with my wife. We took the car with a few things and left for Poland,” he recalls.
Last March, the milestone of three million refugees crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border was exceeded. A massive influx which caused a very long wait on the Ukrainian side. “At the border, it took us twenty-two hours to cover the last two kilometres. There were many, many people, ”recalls the footballer. Tetê explains that he stayed on Polish soil for two months. In order not to let go, he claims to have “taken a subscription to a gym”.
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“It went quickly” with the Rhone club
Very quickly, the young man decided to do more. “I made food baskets, with all the basic products and for essential needs, and I gave them to people who arrived,” he explains. A voluntary action that he was able to carry out, thanks to his “good financial condition”, in his own words.
At the beginning of April, Olympique Lyonnais decided to contact the young footballer, still under contract, but no longer playing a match. An appeal linked to a UEFA decision which allowed players under contract in Ukraine to be released “temporarily” from their contracts. Initially, OL had the young Brazilian sign a three-month contract. “It went quickly. I had just spent several weeks without dribbling anyone, without even touching a ball! The first time I touched a ball was in Lyon, at the stadium, and I scored straight away. I was too happy at that time, ”he says. Now he is waiting for a longer contract with OL, while he was still on loan.