![]() Football in Donbas, under-funded and neglected, has been reduced to an amateur kickabout. The glorious 55,000-capacity Donbas Arena, where Spain beat Portugal in the Euro 2012 semi-final, hasn’t seen a ball kicked since May 2014, and stands empty, maybe now forever. Since Shakhtar and fellow Donetsk outfit Olimpik left the city, there has been no professional football played here. They are nostalgic for the Soviet past, of which the great football traditions of the USSR were a central part. Few European citizens have suffered more at the hands of armies and militants during the last decade than the people of Donetsk. It reflects a strong kinship that is felt here with the Russian world, one that is sometimes mistaken for sympathy for the illegality and violence with which separation was achieved. And everyone was very upset by the poor performance of the Russians at Euro 2020.” The one they were rooting for in Donetsk was the Russian national team. ![]() Most of these people have at best a neutral attitude towards the Ukrainian national team. ![]() But by virtue of my profession, I have a large social circle. “I can’t speak for all Donetsk residents. ![]()
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