The president of Ukraine’s biggest soccer club has announced a 10 million UAH ($231,096) donation to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after he was banned from the Winter Olympics.
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified from competition after choosing to wear a “helmet of remembrance” in honour of fellow athletes who have died following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee said it violated its rules on political messaging in the field of play. The racer’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was denied after its Ad Hoc division “found these limitations reasonable and proportionate.”
Shakhtar Donetsk announced on Tuesday that its president Rinat Akhmetov had donated the same amount of money Heraskevych would have earned from a gold medal to his foundation, to “support … his fight for the right to remember and protect Ukraine’s interests on the international stage.”
“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine a true winner,” Akhmetov said, via the team’s website. “The respect and pride he has earned among Ukrainians through his actions are the highest reward.
“At the same time, I want him to have enough energy and resources to continue his sporting career, as well as to fight for truth, freedom and the remembrance of those who gave their lives for Ukraine.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also spoken out in support of Heraskevych, announcing on his social media that he had presented the athlete with the Order of Freedom.
Shakhtar have not played in its home stadium, the Donbas Arena, in the east of Ukraine, since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and war broke out in the region.
The team plays its domestic league games in Lviv in the west of Ukraine, while its home matches in European club competitions have been played in various locations across the country, as well as in Poland and Germany.
This season, Shakhtar has played its Conference League matches at the stadium of Polish club Wisla Krakow and are second in Ukraine’s top division.