Dynamo Kyiv coach regretted “Vladimir Putin” shouts from Turkish fans during game against Fenerbahce Istanbul.
Everything went according to plan in the game, “but we didn’t take the fans into account, I didn’t expect such calls – it’s unfortunate,” said Mircea Lucescu after the game in Istanbul, according to the newspaper “Fanatik”. Out of protest, Lucescu did not attend the press conference that followed. Fenerbahce coach Jorge Jesus initially did not comment on the incident.
Numerous supporters of the Turkish club chanted the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of the second qualifying round of the Champions League. Vitaliy Buyalskyi (57th minute) gave Kyiv the lead, and then there were shouts of “Vladimir Putin” from the stands. The incident was also widely discussed on social media. Many Fenerbahce fans expressed their regret at the behavior of the supporters at the stadium.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responds
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded sportily to the calls from Turkish fans. “We advise Turkish fans to be on the winning side,” tweeted Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko.
Ukraine also defeated Russian President Vladimir Putin with Dynamo’s 2-1 win. “We did well in Turkey and we will do the same in Ukraine,” said Nikolenko. Ukraine has been repelling a Russian military invasion for about five months.
The Ukrainian record champions won the second leg in Istanbul 2-1 (1-1, 0-0) after extra time. The narrow away win was enough after the 0-0 in the first leg to reach the third qualifying round for the premier class. Kyiv meets the Austrian representative Sturm Graz.