PRAGUE (AP) — Slavia Prague has opted to cancel a scheduled warm-up game against Slovan Bratislava after the Slovak champion engaged in a friendly match against Russia’s Dynamo Moscow.
Slovan, currently gearing up to face Sturm Graz in the Europa Conference League playoff next month, participated in the friendly on Tuesday during their training camp in Qatar.
Jaroslav Tvrdík, the chairman of Slavia’s board, remarked, “It seems we have a different view of the war (against Ukraine).”
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Instead of the canceled match, the Czech club has arranged to play against another Slovak team, Zlate Moravce, with all proceeds from the game set to be donated to Ukraine, which has been facing conflict due to Russia’s invasion nearly two years ago.
In a statement, Slovan argued that their match against Dynamo Moscow did not violate any regulations. The club’s director general, Ivan Kmotrík Jr., stated that Slovan rejects accusations that they “legitimized a military conflict in any way” and emphasized their stance against any form of war.
“We’re against any war,” Kmotrík expressed, adding that athletes should not face discrimination based on nationality or origin. He pointed out that Russians are allowed to participate in NHL or WTA and ATP tennis tournaments despite the ongoing situation.
It’s noteworthy that Russian clubs have been barred from European competitions since the invasion, and Ukrainian teams are compelled to play their games abroad.
When UEFA attempted to reintegrate Russia’s national under-17 teams into its competitions in September, the move faced resistance from some European member federations. These federations continued to refuse participation of their youth teams against Russia, prompting UEFA to withdraw the proposal within two weeks.
