Spain’s government on Tuesday expressed “support” for Ukraine’s inclusion in the joint Iberian candidacy to host the 2030 World Cup, believing that sport and peace should always go together.
“Clearly, the government would support Ukraine’s inclusion in the Iberian candidacy for one reason: linking sport to peace is always good news,” said the executive’s spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez.
The English newspaper The Times reported Monday that the governments of Portugal and Spain had already agreed to include Ukraine in the proposal, as had its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Wednesday, the presidents of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Fernando Gomes and Luis Rubiales, respectively, will promote a press conference at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, to discuss the topic.
Ukraine, in collaboration with Poland, hosted the Euro2012, which also hosted the 2018 Champions League final, at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.
The Times indicates that the eastern country would face some challenges from the group stage, which could help rebuild infrastructure in the post-war period.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on Feb. 24 has already resulted in more than 13 million people having fled — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.4 million to European countries — according to the most recent UN data, which rank this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose it on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 5,996 dead civilians and 8,848 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the real one.
Source: DN
