KIEV, June 10 — Ukraine’s football association said today it was in talks with Uefa to reverse a decision by Europe’s football governing body to remove a slogan from Ukraine jerseys following protests from Russia.
“Ukraine’s football association is in talks with Uefa to keep in place the slogan on its jerseys,” the association’s press service told AFP, after Uefa said the message “Glory to our Heroes” was “clearly political in nature”.
The association said to AFP that “earlier Uefa had approved the new kit and every element of it, including the slogan.”
Uefa today however said that the message “Glory to our Heroes”, which was used by protesters who ousted a Kremlin-backed president during the Maidan demonstrations in 2013-2014, was “clearly political in nature”.
The decision came after Russia earlier sent a letter of complaint to Uefa over the jersey, which also features an outline of Ukraine including Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
Uefa said the map would not need to be changed because a United Nations General Assembly Resolution “recognises the territorial borders as broadly depicted by the design”.
The slogan “Glory to Ukraine” was also approved by Uefa as “on its own (it) may be considered as a generic and non-political phrase of general national significance”. — AFP
