Fan Comment

Kyiv – An Opportunity For Peacemaking

My wife is Ukrainian and her mother lives in a war-torn village in the Donbass region. Every night, we worry in case something bad happens. She hides each night underground.

On Thursday evening, there was a rally outside the Russian embassy to demonstrate against Putin’s war. My wife needed me to take her to the rally, so I dutifully attended. There were only 100-120 there and my heart went out to these people trying to start something to fight against an oppressor and an invader of their country.

There were people from Georgia, Poland, UK and other countries. They were ordinary people just wanting something to be done and feeling powerless. Even if nothing could practically be done, they were providing each other with the comfort that they were not alone and could come together and share their thoughts, feeling and perspectives.

We got home in time to watch the game on time delay, but essentially live. We talked throughout about the evening, and a lot about what could we do to bring peace to Ukraine and of course who we would get in the next round?!!

Then, to my total surprise, we draw out of the hat the very next day... Dynamo Kyiv. All of a sudden, we hear of the trouble at their game this very Thursday. From the top headlines, it looks as though they are a nasty piece of work. Neofascists dressed up in football colours.

Uproar has arisen across all the Everton forums about the risk and potential violence. Some have suggested boycotting, asking for a neutral venue, playing the game behind closed doors. All natural reactions from a worried fan’s perspective going into what people are calling a war-torn country.

In reality, life goes on as normal in Kyiv as their former Russian brothers are invading their country, annexing Crimea and providing troops and weapons to support an insurrection in the Donbas region. They have also been subjected to some of the world's worst nose-in-the-trough corruption with previous governments taking out 20% of GDP for their personal wealth.

When I look a bit closer at the footage and reports of the Kyiv - Guingamp game, it looks slightly different. By all accounts, the French have used extreme provocation. Some think that hitting below the belt at football matches is fair game – whether it is local rivalries from across the park, or sectarian chants in Glasgow, or plain violence, from the Ultras to the Head Hunters – that football has the ability to put immediate tribal vengeance to the fore, above all else, never ceases to amaze many of us.

Everton and our fans are different: we pride ourselves on our ethics, our sense of fairness, caring for community, and wider causes. We also travel in great numbers and are great visitors to the likes of Wolfsburg.

Kyiv needs a boost; the Ukrainian people need a boost and need to feel that other people care and understand their plight. We as Evertonians have the rare opportunity to set new standards in football supporter behaviour. I know it is more than doable with our massed ranks of genuine, caring football people that have much more upstairs then a CHAF (Chelsea Average Fan!) and build a reputation for Everton across Europe.

With the upcoming fixture, we have an amazing opportunity to reach out with the hand of friendship and support. I would like to call upon the leaders of our Everton supporters groups to start to reach out and see what can be done. I am not well connected, but would help in any way I can.

Our club as well should do everything to foster goodwill, our great Everton reputation, and promote a sense of welcoming from the Kyiv supporters and Kyiv people. I am sure that we could engage in a wider connection with business and community connections. This could be a seminal moment in European fixtures where people use it for building bridges, relationship and commerce between our city and other cities and countries around Europe. It would set a trend to reach out to their supporters' groups to show that we care and we would turn the whole tie into a welcome bon amis guest-fest.

We would love to have a holiday-type extravaganza trip of a lifetime. One way to do it is to reach out and show the hand of solidarity to the Ukrainian people who are going through very difficult times economically and from an invading oppressor.

The Ukrainian people need help, support and a demonstration of solidarity. I am sure we would get the biggest welcome in Kyiv if we took that stance. This would help not only in creating a much safer trip for our fans but also get a bigger support to the game and increased chance of winning.

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