Shakhtar Donetsk’s South American players refusing to return to Ukraine

The ongoing struggle inside the Ukraine has now had a major affect on one of the country’s most successful soccer clubs, as reports indicate Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian and Argentinian contingent will not return to the club.

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According to the Daily Mail in the UK, all six of the players from Brazil that ply their trade in the war-torn eastern Ukrainian city are not reporting back to the club. It has led to many clubs around Europe to express interest in most of those players.

It appears names like Bernard, midfielders, Alex Teixeira and Douglas Costa, as well as Argentinian striker Facundo Ferreyr are all yet to return to the Ukraine. Bernard, the most high-profile of the bunch, has yet to head to Europe after being home in Brazil for the World Cup. 

The rest of the contingent of players stayed on in France after Shakhtar took on Lyon in a friendly, refusing to return to a city currently a hotbed of fighting.

Shakhtar Donetsk’s billionaire owner Rinat Akhmetov took a hard-line stance on the players returning to the team though, stating he has no plans on selling any of the players and if they don’t return there will be severe financial consequences for the player. 

‘If they don’t come then in the first instance they will suffer,’ Akhmetov said in a statement on the Shakhtar website, via The Daily Mail. 

He also added that he doesn’t expect it to get to that point, “‘I don’t rule out that these players will return to the club soon.” According to the report, the owner believes most will return on Monday. 

Among the biggest concerns for the players is their personal safety, which is at severe risk should they return to Donetsk. It’s something the owner acknowledged and admitted his club is working with the Ukrainian federation to find an alternative place to play for this season.

‘We aren’t going to take risks and in no way will we take players to somewhere that is dangerous,’ Akhmetov said. He also indicated a preference to play in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the city.