Shakhtar Donetsk will shift their headquarters to Kiev and play their Champions League and domestic games in the western city of Lviv to escape from the Ukraine’s strife-torn east, CEO Sergei Palkin confirmed.
The Ukraine champions were forced to move from Donetsk, a major industrial city in the East which has become a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists who are fighting army forces controlled by the government.
Offered a choice of four venues by European football governing body Uefa, Shakhtar chose to play their games at Lviv Arena, a stadium that hosted matches during the European championship in 2012.
Shakhtar opened the new season with a 2-0 win at rivals Dynamo Kiev in the Super Cup game in Lviv on Tuesday.
The conflict, which was brought into sharp focus by the downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight near Donetsk last week, has rocked the club, with six of its players refusing to return to the country.
Shakhtar, who represent the pro-Russian region of Donbass, face a challenge to win support in western Ukraine.
Palkin agreed Shakhtar did not have the same level of support at the stands in Lviv, located more than a thousand kilometres from Donetsk, as their rivals Dynamo during the season-opener on Tuesday.
“Let us be honest, there was not 50-50 support at the stands,” he said. “But I think we could fix it in the future. I mean Lviv, in particular. Because we are planning to hold our domestic and Champions league games here.”
Palkin said the club was still working on persuading the five Brazilians and one Argentine who have refused to play in Ukraine.
“We are in the persuasion phase saying Ukraine is safe enough to play and live in,” he said. “It is our primary task now as many of them are scared. I hope to get this sorted out. If not, we have the other mechanisms to deal with it.”
Coach Mircea Lucescu added on the club website that “Arena Lviv will be our home arena” for season. Players and staff will live in the capital Kiev.
He said Shakhtar will return to the Donbass Arena in Donetsk as soon as possible.
In the Super Cup on Tuesday, forward Olexander Gladkiy put Donetsk into the lead with quarter of an hour to go, with late Brazilian substitute Marlos adding an injury-time second.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
