Shakhtar Donetsk pack up and head west amid Ukraine strife

With their home city in separatist-controlled territory, Ukrainian club giants Shakhtar Donetsk have arranged with Uefa to play their Champions League and domestic matches in the west, in Lviv.

Shakhtar Donetsk player Alex Teixeira reacts during a Champions League group match in December against Manchester United. Six South American players, Teixeira included, had refused to return to Ukraine for the domestic football season before Shakhtar announced their temporary move to the west of the country on Wednesday. It is unclear yet if that will be sufficient reassurance for the players. Jon Super / AP / December 10, 2013Show less

Shakhtar Donetsk will shift their headquarters to Kiev and play their Champions League and domestic games in the western city of Lviv to escape from the Ukraine’s strife-torn east, CEO Sergei Palkin confirmed.

The Ukraine champions were forced to move from Donetsk, a major industrial city in the East which has become a stronghold of pro-Russian separatists who are fighting army forces controlled by the government.

Offered a choice of four venues by European football governing body Uefa, Shakhtar chose to play their games at Lviv Arena, a stadium that hosted matches during the European championship in 2012.

Shakhtar opened the new season with a 2-0 win at rivals Dynamo Kiev in the Super Cup game in Lviv on Tuesday.

The conflict, which was brought into sharp focus by the downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight near Donetsk last week, has rocked the club, with six of its players refusing to return to the country.

Shakhtar, who represent the pro-Russian region of Donbass, face a challenge to win support in western Ukraine.

Palkin agreed Shakhtar did not have the same level of support at the stands in Lviv, located more than a thousand kilometres from Donetsk, as their rivals Dynamo during the season-opener on Tuesday.

“Let us be honest, there was not 50-50 support at the stands,” he said. “But I think we could fix it in the future. I mean Lviv, in particular. Because we are planning to hold our domestic and Champions league games here.”

Palkin said the club was still working on persuading the five Brazilians and one Argentine who have refused to play in Ukraine.

“We are in the persuasion phase saying Ukraine is safe enough to play and live in,” he said. “It is our primary task now as many of them are scared. I hope to get this sorted out. If not, we have the other mechanisms to deal with it.”

Coach Mircea Lucescu added on the club website that “Arena Lviv will be our home arena” for season. Players and staff will live in the capital Kiev.

He said Shakhtar will return to the Donbass Arena in Donetsk as soon as possible.

In the Super Cup on Tuesday, forward Olexander Gladkiy put Donetsk into the lead with quarter of an hour to go, with late Brazilian substitute Marlos adding an injury-time second.

Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE