Shakhtar Donetsk’s CEO Sergei Palkin wants Ukraine to replace Iran at the World Cup amid reports Tehran has supplied Russia with drones to aid their invasion.
The Ukrainian capital city Kyiv was stuck by Iranian-made ‘kamikaze’ drones deployed by Russian forces last week.
President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed seven such drones had been shot down, while the United States said Iran has deployed military experts in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Footage emerged of police officers shooting down what local authorities described as an Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over Kyiv.
Iran has pleaded its ‘neutrality’ in the conflict but Ukraine has already downgraded diplomatic ties with Tehran and now the chief of one of its leading football teams has demanded further punishment.
The Iranians open their World Cup campaign in Qatar against England on November 21 and also face the United States and Wales in Group B.
In a statement released on Shakhtar’s Twitter feed, Palkin wrote: ‘While the Iranian leadership will have fun watching their national team play at the World Cup, Ukrainians will be killed by Iranian drones and Iranian missiles.
Drone attack have caused devastation in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv in recent days
Ukraine says that Iran has been supplying Russian forces with the unmanned drones
The chief executive of Shakhtar Donetsk has called for Ukraine to replace Iran at the World Cup
‘Almost 250 such drones have already attacked peaceful cities of Ukraine. Each of them was produced and delivered by the Iranian authorities.
‘Iranian instructors and the military directly trained and managed the launches of drones that destroyed homes, museums, universities, offices, sports grounds and playgrounds, and, most importantly, killed Ukrainians, including children – children who also dreamed of seeing their national team at the World Cup.
‘Shakhtar Football Club calls on FIFA and the entire international community to immediately ban Iran’s national team from playing at the World Cup for the country’s direct participation in terrorist attacks on Ukrainians.
‘This will be a fair decision that should draw the attention of the whole world to a regime that kills its best people and helps kill Ukrainians.
Sergei Palkin wants Iran – who will play England, Wales and the United States – to be kicked out
Iran qualified for the tournament in Qatar by finishing top of their Asian qualifying group
‘The vacant place should be taken by the national team of Ukraine, which proved that it is worthy of participation in the Mundial.
‘With unequal conditions with other national teams during the play-offs, they played with their heart.
‘This decision is historically and sportingly justified. I urge everyone to join the pressure on the football bureaucracy.
‘It is enough to repeat the mistakes of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, hiding behind the empty thesis about sports being apolitical.
‘Facilitating the participation of terrorists in the World Cup is politics. It’s time to put an end to such a policy.’
A ball of smoke and flames rises over the streets of Kyiv as the city is bombarded by a swarm of Iranian-made kamikaze drones on Monday
One of the drones soars towards civilian tower blocks in the centre of Kiev during the attack
Police officers try to shoot down a suicide drone attacking the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv
Iran topped their qualifying group in Asia to book their place in Qatar, finishing ahead of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
Ukraine lost 1-0 to Wales in their play-off final in the European qualifying section in June.
It comes after a formal legal challenge was made to FIFA to throw Iran out of the World Cup, which gets underway on November 20.
FIFA referee Mohammad Reza Faghani, judo champion Vahid Sarlak and futsal international Shiva Amini, all high-profile Iranian sporting figures, have signed the letter sent by Spanish-based law firm Ruiz-Huerta and Crespo.
Ukraine lost to Wales in a play-off match to decide a World Cup place back in June
It says that because women have been banned from football games in Iran, the nation’s FA have breached Article 19 of FIFA laws.
‘Women have been consistently denied access to stadiums across the country and systematically excluded from the football ecosystem in Iran, which sharply contrasts with FIFA’s values and statutes,’ it reads.
‘If women are not allowed into stadiums across the country, and the Iranian FA is simply following and enforcing governmental guidelines; they cannot be seen as an independent organisation and free from any form or kind of influence.’