Dynamo Kyiv slam Fenerbahce for their pre-season tour of Russia

Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv has accused Fenerbahce of ‘having blood on their hands’ after they entered a pre-season tournament in Russia.

The Turkish team played out a goalless draw with Zenit St Petersburg at the Gazprom Arena on Sunday, before losing 4-3 on a penalty shoot-out.

Fenerbahce have matches arranged against Red Star Belgrade of Serbia and Neftci of Azerbaijan in the coming days as part of the Pari Premier Cup. Both will be played in Russia.

Dynamo issued a strongly worded statement condemning Fenerbahce, whose fans chanted the name of Russian president Vladimir Putin during a Champions League fixture last season following the invasion of Ukraine.

The statement read: ‘When the fans in Istanbul chanted the name of the murderous country and came to the match against Dynamo wearing the masks of Europe’s main sadist, your club was silent.

‘Now it is clear why.

‘Gazprom’s blood money overshadowed everything, left you without honour and conscience.

‘Russian missiles kill Ukrainians every day, the whole civilised world has rallied against aggression and mass murder, and your club accepts bloody handouts from sponsors of terrorism.

‘UEFA and FIFA remove Russian clubs from participating in international tournaments, and you go to them on tour to make money and play along with the aggressor.

‘Nothing can justify this step. No amount of money will compensate you for this shameful behaviour, this trip to murderers without morals and human qualities.

‘We are not afraid to tell the whole world: you are helping murderers to continue their bloody harvest on Ukrainian soil.

‘You play along with them and legitimise the main evil of the 21st century.

‘Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü – no honour, no shame, no conscience! Shame on you!’

The club’s social media post was accompanied by a graphic which read ‘blood on your hands’ alongside the logos of Fenerbahce and Gazprom, the energy giant that owns Zenit.

Russian teams have been excluded from playing in FIFA and UEFA tournament since the invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

UEFA fined Fenerbahce £42,000 and handed them a one-game partial stadium closure of at least 5,000 seats for their next European game – suspended for two years.

Thousands of fans joined in with the Putin chant after Dynamo scored in a match they won 2-1 to progress into the Champions League third qualifying round.

At the time, Fenerbahce said their fans’ actions did not represent the club or its ‘corporate stance in any way.’ They insisted ‘sports and politics should always be kept separate.’

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