West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko reportedly donates £75K to Ukrainian armed forces
Ukrainian West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko has donated £75,000 to support his country’s armed forces against Russian invasion, the Daily Mail reports.
The third-most capped player for his national team missed the victory over Wolves on Sunday (27 February) having been granted compassionate leave in light of the situation in his home country.
Captain Declan Rice held up the 32-year-old’s shirt before the game and the players have been warming up with his name and number on their backs after David Moyes said, via the Daily Mail: “He’s not in a very good position at the moment – we’ve given him a few days off.
“I spoke with him yesterday and he was upset, which you can imagine. We just hope his family keep safe.”
The paper reports that an English-language Ukrainian football Twitter account Zorya Londonsk showed that the Hammers player had donated the equivalent of £75,000.
Troubling
The news coming out of Ukraine is extremely concerning in any number of ways, and it is no surprise to see the distress it is causing players from the nation.
The Irons man was in no fit state to play, while Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko was in tears before his side’s match at Everton, having shared an embrace with the Toffees’ player Vitalii Mykolenko before kickoff.
Football’s deep ties with Russia have seen increasing repercussions, including multiple international federations saying they will refuse to play against the national team, and the Champions League final being moved from the country.
London rivals Chelsea have seen their Russian owner Roman Abramovich attempt to hand the running of the club to their charitable trust.
And earlier today it was announced that the only remaining Russian club in European competition, Spartak Moscow, was to be removed from the Europa League (Sky Sports) in a move that could affect the Hammers further along in the competition.
Football will continue to be secondary for players like Yarmolenko until the bloodshed is ended, and the football world appears to be heavily supportive of that.
In other West Ham news, one Hammer has reportedly turned down a new long-term deal.