Fifa and Uefa acted swiftly three years ago to prevent Russian sides playing in their competitions but, in a fraught international climate and with a volatile US administration appearing openly hostile to Ukraine, Palkin reiterated the need for them to hold the line.
Last February Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, met his Ukrainian Association of Football counterpart, Andriy Shevchenko, in Paris and pledged to “support the continuous growth on and off the pitch” of football in Ukraine.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s chief executive, Serhii Palkin, has accused Fifa of failing to support Ukrainian football in the three years since Russia undertook its full-scale invasion of the country.
Asked why he believed Fifa may be reluctant to create a reparations fund or provide further assistance, Palkin said: “In the past three years many people asked the same question, but I don’t know at all.
Shevchenko acknowledged the value of existing Fifa programmes, such as the Fifa Forward campaign, in backing the sport’s development in Ukraine.
