FC Shakhtar Donetsk president Rinat Akhmetov announced he will donate $25 million of the transfer fee Chelsea F.C. will pay for star Ukrainian star Mykhailo Mudryk to Ukrainian soldiers.
After almost a full year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Akhmetov told fans of Shakhtar that the Ukrainian football club had agreed to send Mydryk to Chelsea F.C., an English Premier League team, for a deal worth $108.4 million, $76 million for the transfer and an additional $30 million more.
Akhmetov told supporters he will donate some of the money Chelsea paid to Shaktar to the troops who were defending his country against Russia. The name of the program he will start to help soldiers and their families is called the “Heart of Azovstal,” as he explained in a statement:
Dear friends and fans,FC Shakhtar has signed a final agreement with Chelsea FC and this Ukrainian footballer Mykhailo Mudryk will continue his career with the Blues in the strongest national championship, the English Premier League.First and foremost, I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping
Ukraine. Today we are able to talk about Ukrainian football thanks to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people, and the tremendous support of the entire civilised world. Only by joining efforts we will defeat the evil that has come to our homes.I have mixed feeling today. On the one hand, I am happy for Mykhailo and proud of him. This guy is leading by example, showing that talent and hard work can make the impossible possible. I am absolutely confident that the entire Europe will acclaim Mykhailo’s brilliant and fine play.On the other hand, I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies. This means that players like Mudryk should be invited to our club, to our Ukrainian championship, and we should win European trophies with such players, rather than root for them, even when they play in the world’s top clubs. Unfortunately, it is impossible now, as Ukraine is fighting the horrendous and unjust war waged against us by the Russian Federation. But I am confident that we will win. And we will play a friendly against Chelsea at Donbass Arena in a Ukrainian Donetsk.We have to do everything we can to bring this day closer.That is why I have made a decision to launch the Heart of Azovstal, a project designed to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history. It is them,their sacrifice and courage that helped contain the enemy in the first months of the war and let all of us feel the inevitability of the Victory of Ukraine now.I am allocating $25 million (UAH 1 billion) today to help our soldiers, defenders, and their families. The money will be used to cover different needs – from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests. To ensure transparency, the project will have a professional independent team that will be in touch with the Azovstal defenders, their families, care providers, and volunteers.We are forever indebted to our soldiers!
Murdryk appeared in 29 matches for Shakhtar over the four seasons he spent with the club.