Dynamo President Ihor Surkis comments the possibility of his club to join the G-14 in his interview with the Ukrainian newspaper 24.
- Mr Surkis, сan you confirm that Dynamo Kyiv is among invitees to join the G-14?
- That’s correct. Recently, we have received the invitation to attend the G-14 conference to be hosted by Brussels, Belgium. It is not, however, the first time we have been made the offer . Back in 1999, when Hryhoriy Surkis was the President of Dynamo, we were invited to a conference. We are following the wait-and-see policy. Dynamo will definitely participate in this year’s event, but we are not going to join at the moment. There is one thing you need to understand here. What other Europe’s soccer heavyweights are allowed to do may exert a negative impact on other clubs, for example, Dynamo
- Are you saying relations with UEFA may worsen?
- Exactly. As known, UEFA takes a tough attitude towards the G-14 members and we do not want any complications with Europe’s governing soccer body. I can not let it happen that the negotiations with the G-14 will result, say, in negative refereeing towards Dynamo’s European matches. Another thing, the sports component of the organization is not entirely clear. Although the G-14 has been functioning for a number of years, not a single match was held under its auspices.
- Are you going to represent Dynamo at the G-14 conference?
- No, I am not going to Brussels. Dynamo will be represented by our managing director Rezo Chokhonelidze, who knows European football well. He will listen to what exactly we are being offered. Because so far things are not quite clear. It is not clear the way they will distribute TV coverage revenues and which tournaments we could take part in. Whereas UEFA’s weight in Europe raises no doubt, the G-14 exists to a certain extent in the documents. Besides, Chokhonelidze is going to report on the Ukrainian League, whose level, as known, is much lower than that of Western European countries.
