How to get out of hell. Ukrainian clubs had to evacuate their foreign players

The war in Ukraine has paralysed all events in the country. Football clubs had to deal with the situation with foreign players, who had to be evacuated from the country urgently to avoid endangering their lives.

Shakhtar Donetsk currently employs 12 Brazilian players. Other clubs also have players of other nationalities in their squads. The Ukrainian league has been stagnant due to the winter break since 11 December last year. However, it is no longer running. Due to the Russian invasion, it will most likely not be played at all.

The evacuation had to be swift, with Russian troops surrounding the capital Kiev and bombing other major cities. Fighting is raging all over the country. UEFA had to step in quickly and provide transport for players from Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk.

On their website, the current Ukrainian league leader Shakhtar Donetsk assured everyone that the evacuation of all Brazilian players had been successful.

Ruch Lviv midfielder Viv Salomon-Otabor subsequently described how he literally had to flee the country. The 26-year-old former Wigan player had to make his way to the Polish border. He was given instructions from the club with a route and then had to make the journey to the Polish city of Krakow along with other teammates.

“I remember we were driving and tanks were passing by. You see that in Call of Duty. It was so realistic. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he told the BBC.

Shakhtar Donetsk, BBC