Zelensky finally intervened in the case of the traitor to Ukraine. Football won't take that back

144 – that's exactly how many matches Anatoly Tymoshchuk played for the Ukrainian national team. This would easily predispose him to becoming one of the greatest legends of local football, especially since in the meantime he was a player of, among others, Bayern Munich. However, it turned out differently. Tymoshchuk, who has lived and worked in Russia for years and did not condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Zelensky finally intervened in the Tymoshchuk case. He won't take that back

In club football, the Ukrainian is best known for playing for Zenit Saint Petersburg. He played for this club in the years 2007-2009 and 2013-2015, and since 2017 he has been working there as an assistant coach of the first team. At the beginning of May 2022, Tymoszczuk celebrated Zenit Saint Petersburg winning the championship. This was not well received by Ukrainians.

– He chose money over his homeland and family, said Shakhtar activist Serhiy Palkin. – You're Russian dogwhich sold for money. Remember that your parents live here. You're a moron, you're already dead. Remember this once and for all, said Oleksandr Aliyev, a former player of Dynamo Kiev and the Ukrainian national team.

On Friday, November 22, Ukrainian media reported that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a decree under which 34 traitors to the country were stripped of all state decorations. Anatoly Tymoshchuk was also on the list.

In March 2022, the Ukrainian association stripped Tymoshchuk of all titles won, coaching licenses and permanently removed him from the official register of national teams. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] in Lausanne overturned the decisions of the Ukrainian football authorities, which was condemned by the federation.

Former coach Myron Markewicz also spoke harshly about his former player. – Tymoshchuk owes everything to Ukraine, but he became a traitor. We crossed paths with him in the Ukrainian national team, and Tymoshchuk is remembered for constantly earning higher salaries, even for matches social. For him, money always came first and that's why it wasn't a surprise to me that he sold himself for rubles, he told the Sport.ua portal. – The court case won by Tymoszczuk does not mean anything. The Ukrainian people have made their choice about him a long time ago. And there is no point in promoting a traitor by mentioning him. Like some other athletes and singers. They are nothing to us, he concluded.