Barcelona’s famous “More than a club” motto could easily be applied to the current life of Ukraine’s most successful club of recent times, Shakhtar Donetsk. In exile since the second half of 2014, they have had to take shelter in Kiev, with their Donbass Arena home having ceased to be a football stadium. Instead, until recently, it was a humanitarian-aid centre, distributing food parcels to local people affected by the military conflict with pro-Russian separatists.
Almost eight years ago, nobody could have imagined the scale of the tragedy. In 2009, Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yushchenko, unveiled the first football stadium in Eastern Europe that was designed and built to UEFA’s five-star standards. He addressed the crowds saying: “Victories be yours, Donetsk and Donbass. Victories be yours, Ukraine, here in Donbass Arena.…
