Enlarge image
Here, Istanbul's Willian Araois (centre) beat Kiev's Denys Popov (left) - but in the end Kyiv won the game 2-1
Photo: Burak Kara/Getty Images
During the duel in the second round of the Champions League qualification between Fenerbahçe Istanbul and Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday, there was a scandal because numerous supporters of the Turkish club chanted the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of the game.
Today, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, spoke out and condemned the behavior of some Fenerbahçe fans.
“Football is a fair game.
Dynamo Kyiv was stronger last night.
It is very sad to hear words of support from Fenerbahçe fans for the killer and aggressor who is bombing our country," Bodnar wrote on Twitter.
Bodnar added that he was "grateful to the friendly Turkish people for supporting Ukraine and for their comments on the inappropriate actions of the fans."
The 2-1 (1-1, 0-0) victory after extra time was Kiev's only second competitive game since Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine began.
The narrow away win was enough after the 0-0 in the first leg to reach the third qualifying round for the premier class.
Kyiv meets the Austrian representative Sturm Graz.
According to Turkish media reports, the atmosphere had become tense after the opening goal by Kiev attacker Vitaly Bujalski (57th minute) and his subsequent celebration.
Videos on social networks clearly show the criticized chants of supporters.
Attila Szalai (89') equalized just before the end of regulation time for Fenerbahçe, who were outnumbered for a long time after being sent off to İsmail Yüksek (53').
Oleksandr Karawajew ensured Kyiv progressed in extra time (114th).
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reacted sportily
The Ukrainian foreign ministry reacted sportily to the incident: "We advise the Turkish fans to be on the winning side," tweeted foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko.
Ukraine also defeated Russian President Vladimir Putin with Dynamo's 2-1 win.
"We've done well in Turkey and we'll do the same in Ukraine," wrote Nikolenko.
Ukraine has been repelling a Russian military invasion for about five months.
Due to the ongoing Russian war of aggression, Dynamo Kyiv plays its home games in Lodz, Poland.
Kyiv's coach canceled press conference in protest
After the game on Wednesday evening, Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu regretted the "Vladimir Putin" calls.
Everything went according to plan in the game, "but we didn't take the fans into account, I didn't expect such calls - regrettable," he said, according to the newspaper "Fanatik".
Out of protest, Lucescu did not attend the press conference that followed.
Fenerbahçe coach Jorge Jesus initially did not comment on the incident.
