Football faded into the background
Monday, March 23, 2020
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FC Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin gave a live interview to Oleksandr Denysov as part of the Velykyi Futbol TV programme
- Firstly, congratulations on your victory over Wolfsburg. Let's think in a positive way.
- Thank you so much.
- How are you? Where do you and your family stay? Office, home?
- Everyone’s at home. We work from home. Just a couple of days ago, we had a skype conference involving the coaching staff and team doctors. We all work remotely. We follow all those quarantine regulations.
- The team travelled to Europe, they visited Wolfsburg. Any cases reported? Is everyone healthy?
- Yes, everything’s great. When we left for Germany, as far as I remember, they had about 1,300 infected people. Today, as you know, the numbers have surged. Our doctors keep in touch with all the players daily, receiving reports from them and their families. We control the situation and keep our finger on the pulse.
- Are all the foreign players in Ukraine? No one went elsewhere?
- No, everyone’s in the country, under our control. It wouldn’t been nice if someone had left because the situation is changing every day. From a medical point of view, it’s even better for us, because it’s easier to control the process when everyone’s here.
- Are Luis Castro and the coaching staff also in Kyiv?
- Yes, they’re in Kyiv.
- Rinat Akhmetov allocated UAH 300 million to tackle coronavirus. Please comment on this step by the president of Shakhtar. What will the money be spent on?
- You know that these days, by and large, football has faded into the background. Therefore, the FC Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov decided to give this money. They will purchase 400 thousand sets for medical staff, 300 thousand rapid tests, 200 mechanical ventilation devices, and other personal protection stuff. Jointly with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the business entities that are part of the SCM system and FC Shakhtar - in the coming days you will learn the role of each unit in assisting the medical institutions in our country. The entire SCM system will be involved in this process.
- After the initiatives of the president of Shakhtar, you will probably be more involved in those charitable issues?
- To be honest, yes. By and large, football topics are fading into the background at the moment. We will be more involved in the process of providing assistance to tackle coronavirus. This is the major issue these days, so we should give our all in this direction.
- Back to the team: while everything’s suspended, does everyone observe quarantine and stay at home?
- As of today yes, everyone stays at home. All of them received individual tasks. Everyone trains at home as much as possible. At the same time, we have a plan B. When the situation improves and it gets better, we will be able to switch to fitness activities: our two fields will be divided into four sections, with one, maximum two players training in each section. But this is a matter of the future. So far, I guess it's too early to talk about it. However, we must have plans A and B.
- Would you like to play the remaining Championship games?
- Of course, we want to play the remaining league games. The question is how to do that. The situation changes every day, sometimes even every hour. It’s very difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow. Of course, everyone wants to play the remaining games to make it all fair. But our desire is one thing, and quite another is how it will happen in real life based on the situation we are in.
- Thank you so much.
- How are you? Where do you and your family stay? Office, home?
- Everyone’s at home. We work from home. Just a couple of days ago, we had a skype conference involving the coaching staff and team doctors. We all work remotely. We follow all those quarantine regulations.
- The team travelled to Europe, they visited Wolfsburg. Any cases reported? Is everyone healthy?
- Yes, everything’s great. When we left for Germany, as far as I remember, they had about 1,300 infected people. Today, as you know, the numbers have surged. Our doctors keep in touch with all the players daily, receiving reports from them and their families. We control the situation and keep our finger on the pulse.
- Are all the foreign players in Ukraine? No one went elsewhere?
- No, everyone’s in the country, under our control. It wouldn’t been nice if someone had left because the situation is changing every day. From a medical point of view, it’s even better for us, because it’s easier to control the process when everyone’s here.
- Are Luis Castro and the coaching staff also in Kyiv?
- Yes, they’re in Kyiv.
- Rinat Akhmetov allocated UAH 300 million to tackle coronavirus. Please comment on this step by the president of Shakhtar. What will the money be spent on?
- You know that these days, by and large, football has faded into the background. Therefore, the FC Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov decided to give this money. They will purchase 400 thousand sets for medical staff, 300 thousand rapid tests, 200 mechanical ventilation devices, and other personal protection stuff. Jointly with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the business entities that are part of the SCM system and FC Shakhtar - in the coming days you will learn the role of each unit in assisting the medical institutions in our country. The entire SCM system will be involved in this process.
- After the initiatives of the president of Shakhtar, you will probably be more involved in those charitable issues?
- To be honest, yes. By and large, football topics are fading into the background at the moment. We will be more involved in the process of providing assistance to tackle coronavirus. This is the major issue these days, so we should give our all in this direction.
- Back to the team: while everything’s suspended, does everyone observe quarantine and stay at home?
- As of today yes, everyone stays at home. All of them received individual tasks. Everyone trains at home as much as possible. At the same time, we have a plan B. When the situation improves and it gets better, we will be able to switch to fitness activities: our two fields will be divided into four sections, with one, maximum two players training in each section. But this is a matter of the future. So far, I guess it's too early to talk about it. However, we must have plans A and B.
- Would you like to play the remaining Championship games?
- Of course, we want to play the remaining league games. The question is how to do that. The situation changes every day, sometimes even every hour. It’s very difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow. Of course, everyone wants to play the remaining games to make it all fair. But our desire is one thing, and quite another is how it will happen in real life based on the situation we are in.