Ukraine's Most Capped Player Punished by Country's Fa for Continuing to Work with Russian Club Amid Invasion

Ukraine's Most Capped Player Punished by Country's Fa for Continuing to Work with Russian Club Amid Invasion

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:57 PM
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  • Former Ukraine national team captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is under fire from the country’s FA
  • Tymoshchuk continues to work as part of the coaching staff at Russian club Zenit St Petersburg
  • This has been deemed as a violation of a code of ethics by the Ukraine FA, which claims he is cooperating “with the club of the aggressor”
  • Tymoshchuk is considered as one of the best ever players in Ukraine’s history

The Ukranian FA has moved to punish former captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk for his failure to condemn Russia and his continued role at Zenit St Petersburg.

Tymoshchuk is considered to be one of the greatest ever footballers Ukraine has produced in modern history and is ranked up there with the great Andrei Shevchenko.

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is facing heavy punishment from the Ukrainian FA. Photo by Alex Gottschalk.
Source: Getty Images

He is the most capped player in Ukraine, having represented his nation 144 times, which is 33 more than Shevchenko.

The 42-year old also captained the national team for four years.

As reported by BBC, the UAF believes Tymoshchuk has violated a code of ethics as he continues to work as an assistant coach at Russian club Zenit St Petersburg amid an ongoing war in Ukraine which was instigated by Russia’s invasion of the country.

"Since the beginning of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, Tymoshchuk AA, the former captain of the Ukrainian national team, not only did not make any public statements in this regard, but also did not stop his co-operation with the club of the aggressor." A statement from UAF's ethics and fair play committee read.
"At a time when his former club, Bayern Munich, are publishing statements and holding rallies in support of Ukraine, AA Tymoschuk continues to remain silent and work for the aggressor’s club.

As a player, Tymoshchuk won league titles with Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit.

He was also part of the Bayern Munich treble-winning side of 2012/13, and was captain of the national team during the Euro 2016.

The UAF now want Ukraine’s legend to be stripped of his coaching license as well as his league and cup wins in Ukraine.

Tymoshchuk also risks being taken out of the list of national team players of Ukraine.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a number of Ukrainian sportsmen have joined the nation in the military operation, in a show of solidarity towards their nation.

The biggest names in sport to join the war are brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

Authors
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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.