The Ukrainian Football Association has called for Anatoly Timoshuk to be stripped of all state awards and honorary titles he has received, while remaining silent about Russia’s invasion of his country, according to the Daily Mail.
Timoshuk, who has made 144 appearances for Ukraine, is the assistant coach at Zenit St Petersburg and has been silent amid the conflict more than two weeks after his country was invaded.
The former Shakhtar Donetsk star is still working in Russia, while fellow Ukrainian internationals have spoken out about the crisis, including defender Yaroslav Rakitsky, who asked to leave Zenit after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, last month.
“The Ethics and Fair Play Committee of the Ukrainian Football Association has issued a statement on violations of the rules of ethics and play by former national team player Anatoly Timoshuk,” a statement on the Ukrainian Football Federation said.
Guided by Article 62 of the Federation’s Disciplinary Rules, after reviewing and verifying information on possible violations of the Code of Ethics and Fair Play, it becomes clear that since the beginning of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, Timoshuk, the former captain of the Ukrainian national team, has not made any public statements in In this regard, it did not stop his cooperation with the aggressor club.”
He added: “Temoshuk continues to remain silent and work for the aggressor club. By making this conscious choice, Timoshuk is damaging the image of Ukrainian football and violating the terms of the Code of Ethics and Fair Play.”
As a result of his silence, the Ukrainian Federation wants to deprive the former midfielder of his professional coaching license, and apply to the public authorities to deprive him of all awards, state honorary titles and all domestic titles he won in Ukraine.
The Football Association also wants Timoshuk to be excluded from the official registry of players for the national teams.
Timoshuk was also criticized by his compatriot Ruslan Malinovsky, who insisted that he could no longer be considered a legend as a result of his silence.
The Atalanta midfielder is heartbroken, and has been keen to question Timochuk’s inability to move.
‘I don’t know anything about Timoshuk,’ he said, ‘you should ask him. It is difficult to comment but it is strange (not to talk about war), and I think that is not true.”
“He is no longer (or ever will be) the legend of Ukrainian football,” Malinovsky continued. His past achievements have been forgotten.”
Source: agencies.