FK Mariupol is no more.
The incessant bombardments of the Russian forces on this city in the Donetsk region, a strategic port in the Donbass, also got the better of the local football club.
Like the majority of the city, all the club's infrastructure has been destroyed since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine on February 24.
Club officials began breaking the news to Ukrainian media.
FC MARIUPOL HAS FOLDED 🥺😢
News has begun to circulate in Ukrainian media that the Azov Coast club has ceased to exist…
All of its infrastructure has been destroyed in the besieged city
We hope the club returns following Ukraine's 🇺🇦 victory pic.twitter.com /05rMC0xWXZ
— Zorya Londonsk (@ZoryaLondonsk) April 27, 2022
The club's players had left Ukraine to join Turkey, where several teams from the country found refuge and were able to gradually continue training.
Shaktar Donetsk has also settled there.
Ukrainian clubs train on grounds loaned by local clubs or by the Turkish federation.
Sportingly, the Orange and Blue had forged a partnership with Shaktar Donetsk, which loaned them around ten players per season, particularly among the youngsters of the academy.
All have joined their original club since the start of the war.
During the 2018-2019 season, FK Mariupol faced Girondins de Bordeaux in the preliminary round of the Europa League.
After finishing 6th in the championship two years ago, the club experienced new sporting difficulties and was, at the end of the Ukrainian championship, last in Premier Liha.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: the football championship definitively stopped, no title awarded
Founded in 1960, FK Mariupol had been playing in the Ukrainian first division since 2017.
Already affected since 2014 by the war in the Donbass region, the team relocated to Dnipro for a time between 2014 and 2015, before returning to its premises.
The Volodymyr-Boiko Stadium was less than 100 km from the front line.