"We play
to help
Ukraine!"

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk decided to raise money for its home country in a series of friendly matches with other top clubs around Europe.

The Ukrainian league is currently suspended and the fighting also reached the outskirts of the capital city of Kyiv, where Shakhtar’s training ground is. One round even struck the team’s training pitch. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

“We really want to thank PUMA, which has helped us enormously during these times and quickly supplied us with products in this difficult situation,” said Dmitry Kyrylenko, Commercial Director at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Because the club could not play anywhere, Shakhtar decided to embark on a European tour to raise money for Ukraine. The funds raised go directly towards helping children and families in Ukraine.

The first match took place against Greek side Olympiacos Piraeus and Shakhtar raised more than 100,000 euros. Further matches took place against Lechia Gdańsk on Saturday and PUMA Team Fenerbahce on Tuesday. One further match is scheduled against Hajduk Split, but the team will not stop there.

“We will play as much as possible to support Ukraine,” said Dmitry Kyrylenko.

During the matches, Shakhtar will wear special PUMA jerseys. Instead of the team’s usual sponsor, there is a large “Stop War” logo in the colours of the Ukrainian flag on the front. The back of the jerseys feature the names of several Ukrainian cities instead of the players’ names.