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UEFA To Investigate "Vladimir Putin" Chants By Fenerbahce Fans At Dynamo Kyiv Match

Russian president Vladimir Putin's name was chanted by thousands of Fenerbahce fans during Wednesday's UEFA Champions League game against Dynamo Kyiv.

Robert Summerscales

UEFA To Investigate "Vladimir Putin" Chants By Fenerbahce Fans At Dynamo Kyiv Match
UEFA To Investigate "Vladimir Putin" Chants By Fenerbahce Fans At Dynamo Kyiv Match /

Russian president Vladimir Putin's name was chanted by thousands of Fenerbahce fans during Wednesday's Champions League game against Dynamo Kyiv.

The game was just Dynamo's second competitive match of 2022 after Ukrainian soccer had been suspended following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

But the 16-time Ukrainian champions secured an impressive 2-1 win in Turkey to progress to the next UCL qualifying round after the first leg had ended 0-0 in Poland.

Vitaliy Buyalsky scored the opening goal of the game for Kyiv before celebrating by imitating an eagle.

This sparked anger among some Fenerbahce fans as it was interpreted that Buyalsky's celebration was a reference to the eagle on the club logo of rivals Besiktas.

Moments later, chants of "Vladimir Putin" rang around the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

Dynamo Kyiv's no.29 Vitaliy Buyalsky pictured (right) celebrating a goal against Fenerbahce in July 2022
Dynamo Kyiv's no.29 Vitaliy Buyalsky pictured (right) celebrating his goal against Fenerbahce :: IMAGO/Seskim Photo

Dynamo Kyiv head coach Mircea Lucescu said after the game, as quoted by Ukrainian news outlet Expres: "We cannot accept the behavior of the fans. I did not expect such chants. It is a pity."

On Thursday, UEFA released a statement to confirm that the chants will be the subject of an investigation.

It read: "In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding alleged misbehavior of Fenerbahce supporters during the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, second leg match between Fenerbahce SK and FC Dynamo Kyiv played on 27 July 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey."

Dynamo will now face Austria's Sturm Graz in the Champions League's third qualifying round.

Fenerbahce have dropped into the UEFA Europa League where they will meet Slovacko from the Czech Republic for a place in the play-off round.

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.

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