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Collage “Country” with a photo of Roman Zozuli and European ultras protesting against him
The website of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has published a decree on the reward of athletes on the occasion of the Day of Physical Culture.
He drew attention to the fact that, of the footballers currently playing on the order bearer list, only Roman Zozulya is a man whose career in Europe has gone downhill. The reason is that Europeans consider him a follower of Nazism. And this is not the opinion of a few, but of many fans, representatives of clubs and politicians.
Zozulya does not hide that she is a fan of Stepan Bandera. For such a worldview, it could be said that he became Petro Poroshenko’s favorite. When he was president, he also presented him with an award. And also “fit in” when the footballer was shouted from the European stands: “Zozulya, you’re a Nazi!”
In Ukraine in recent years it has been fashionable to be a fan of OUN-UPA. However, in Europe it is considered by many as a manifestation of neo-Nazism. Furthermore, Zozulya himself gives reasons for this. For example, he is happily photographed in the context of the neo-Nazi code slogan “14/88”.
“Strana” reminds readers of the person Zelensky awarded the Order with.
The European soccer outcast
On the occasion of the Day of Physical Culture, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded various athletes and figures whose work is related to sports. Among them, of the footballers currently playing, only one – Roman Zozulya, player of the club “Albacete”.
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Club Albacete almost flew out of the Spanish second division. So it goes without saying that Zozulya has recently achieved particularly significant success in soccer. However, on the president’s website he presented himself not only as an athlete, but also as a volunteer; Furthermore, this performance was the first.
Roman Zozulya really volunteers. He founded the charitable foundation of the People’s Army, which has provided material support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2015. The Foundation organized bicycle rides, concerts, auctions and the money raised goes to the needs of the Ukrainian army.
Roman Zozul’s football career went downhill in 2017. Immediately, two Spanish clubs cut off contacts with him. Mainly for his political opinions and “proximity to radical groups”.
As a result, the footballer was forced to go to the Spanish second division, the Albacete team. However, he had already earned a reputation among fans and fans continued to react to him in a brusque and negative way.
The last high-profile incident with her involvement happened in December last year. The match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was interrupted. This was due to Rayo fans shouting “Roman Zozulia puto nazi” (“Zozulia is a sinful Nazi”) from the stands. The referee stopped the game for a few minutes, but then resumed it. However, after the first half, the entire Zozuli team decided not to enter the field.
The Rayo fans began to shout that it was a joke, but after 40 minutes the match did not start, and in the stands it was announced that Albacete had refused to enter the field.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RsiCwJ7fF0
The Spanish League commented on the incident. They said they agree with the decision to suspend the match due to insults and threats against Roman Zozuli. And also that they are working to eradicate violence, racism and xenophobia in the stadiums of Spain.
The true ultras Rayo Vallecano (they call themselves Bukaneros) rejected this interpretation. After the game, they addressed the Ukrainian footballer on Twitter: “Not because of racism, not because of xenophobia, not because of violence. The game was suspended for the first time in Spain to tell the truth. Zozulya, you’re a Nazi.”
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This conflict between Zozula and Bukaneros has been going on for a long time.
Before, on loan, Zozulya was supposed to move to Rayo Vallecano. But the club’s fans staged a massive protest, accusing the player of Nazi views. As a result, Zozulya left without playing a single match.
Then he called the Madrid fans “pro-Russian.”
It must be said that the antipathy towards Zozula in Spain is not very widespread. For example, the “Betis” players, in which he also played, came out in support of a teammate who wore shirts with the words: “We are all Zozulya”.
The situation with Roman Zozulya was commented on by the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
His press secretary, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, as expected, saw the Russian trail and the Kremlin’s hand in this story. “The situation with Roman Zozulya is the result of a carefully planned propaganda campaign in the spirit of a hybrid war by Russia against Ukraine,” Petro Poroshenko quoted Tsegolko as saying.
True, according to this logic, the Kremlin also carried out this “special operation” in Germany. In 2017, during the game between Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, the fans of the hosts displayed two posters: “Nazi, get out of football” and “Zozulya, get out.”
But mostly the Ukrainians got it from the “left” Spaniards. For example, he was accused of neo-Nazism and racism by the secretary general of the Spanish left-wing party “Podemos” and the MEP Pablo Iglesias.
“When we talk about Zozula, we are not talking about a footballer with certain ideological views, to which, of course, everyone has the right, we are talking about neo-Nazism and racism, which do a lot of damage to football. That is why I believe that the Rayo Vallecano fans set an example of democratic commitment, ”Iglesias said.
“Would it be wise for Germany to hire a soccer player who has a swastika tattooed and makes a Nazi gesture?” – he also walked on the tattoo with a trident, which Spanish fans also classified as a symbol of Nazism (a very indicative fact, by the way, before “Strana” already said that the tattoo with a trident was considered extremist symbols on the other side of Europe, in Great Britain).
Thus, the Spanish media spread the news that Zozulya was not ashamed of displaying Nazi symbols when he appeared at the airport wearing a T-shirt with a trident.
Ukrainians know that the trident is a national symbol; many wear those shirts. Also, many people help the army. It turns out that Roman Zozul is being unfairly accused?
Why is Zozula accused of neo-Nazism?
Zozuli began taking a closer look at political views in 2015, just as he became an active volunteer.
In 2015, when the player got injured, he helped the Ukrainian army. For this, the “Popular Army” foundation was founded. Zozulya put up his Europa League finalist medal in order to use the proceeds for the needs of ATO fighters.
Photographed with the military, including the Azov battalion, and posed with a machine gun. “Azov” in Europe and the United States is considered a military formation that professes the views of the superiority of the white race. For this reason, the States even officially prohibited the supply of arms to the regiment.
Zozulya also posted a photo on the social network with a portrait of Stepan Bandera and the caption “Oh, and they are similar.” Also, it is noteworthy that Zozulya got a haircut especially under the OUN leader’s bald spots.
In Ukraine, of course, these are fairly common things: many volunteers are flirting with the far right. However, this is already a scandal for international football.
However, there are more serious complaints. There is a photo of Zozuli on the web, which he took in front of a basketball scoreboard. There was a picture of the score 14 – 88 – the Nazi slogan code. The athlete points to the marker with his finger, smiles and makes it clear that he likes such a coincidence of numbers.
Why Vladimir Zelensky considered it possible to grant the order to Roman Zozula and whether he knew his views is an open question.
By the way, on the day the news about receiving the state award appeared, it became known that Zozulya had left his current club. According to media reports, he may continue his career at the APOEL club in Cyprus or return to the Ukrainian Dynamo. The kievists have already denied that they have even negotiated with him: the technical team headed by Lucescu does not expect him.
