Ihor Surkis: All accusations against FC Dynamo Kyiv regarding racial discrimination are unfair

FC Dynamo Kyiv president Ihor Surkis has done an interview for German media in which he told about life and football in Ukraine during the war, the choice of the "home" ground for euro cups and shared his expecttions of the game against SS Lazio.

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- Before the game in Germany, Hamburg fans sharply criticized their own club for cooperating with FC Dynamo Kyiv, as they say that Kyiv fans have right-wing tendencies. Were you surprised by the protests?
- I was very surprised by these protests. I respect the fans of Hamburg, but these protests are unfair. Football Club Dynamo Kyiv has never in its history been performing a discriminatory behavior towards anyone, including football players, club employees and ordinary fans. Moreover, I believe that our club has been an example of a multicultural football society for many years. Representatives of South America, Africa, Asia and various European countries have played for Dynamo. All former Dynamo players speak with warmth and respect about the time spent in Kyiv, remembering these times for the attention and care with which they were surrounded in our club. Moreover, Dynamo have repeatedly taken part in public actions to combat racial discrimination. In particular, the slogan “Say no to racism” was placed right in the center of our team’s jerseys for several seasons.

- Hamburg fans are not the only ones criticizing the right-wing tendencies among Dynamo fans. How big is Dynamo problem with allegedly right-wing fans?
- There have been a few incidents at the stadiums related to the behavior of a very small number of fans. But they do not reflect the position of the club and its efforts to ensure tolerance and equality! As we have already said: for more than 25 years, Dynamo football club has been actively involved in the public life of our country, implementing numerous social and humanitarian projects aimed at supporting children, people with disabilities, war victims and the poor.

Therefore, I believe that all accusations against FC Dynamo Kyiv regarding racial discrimination are unfair, they do not correspond to reality in any way, since for our club the concepts of humanity and tolerance always come first.

- What efforts have you and your club made against right-wing extremist fans?
- In the case of these very few incidents, our club always contacts law enforcement agencies and conducts a personal investigation. Fortunately, they do not happen very often.