"Now I realize the mistake": ex-Shakhtar player makes excuses for refusing to wear a T-shirt in support of AFU

The former midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk and Chornomorets Odesa, Oleksii Hai, has ridiculously justified his refusal to wear a T-shirt in support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces before a UPL match. The 41-year-old Zaporizhzhia native called the situation unexpected and tried to make excuses.

Hai made the statement in an interview with Ukrainian Football. The former Ukrainian national team player, who played for Russian side Kuban from 2016 to 2018, added that the scandalous situation would not have happened again if he had to support the country's defenders now.

"My decision not to wear this T-shirt was in no way related to disrespect for the Ukrainian army and military. Now I realize that it was a mistake, especially against the backdrop of today's full-scale war. The incident with the T-shirt took me by surprise and I acted irresponsibly. It's in the past and I don't want to remember it. Today, I cannot imagine anyone not wearing a T-shirt in support of the Armed Forces. I respect our Armed Forces, as does the entire conscious people of Ukraine," Hai said.

It should be noted that in 2018, the former footballer also refused to call Russia an aggressor country. Last year, Hai apologized for his statements.

As previously reported, former CSKA Kyiv football player Roman Monarev, who received Russian citizenship in 2009, complained that Ukrainians and Russians had become strangers.

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