Ukrainian soccer player gets yellow card for speaking Russian

RT.com
20 Aug 2025, 08:06 GMT+10

Kiev has sought to restrict the use of Russian in public since the 2014 Euromaidan coup

A Ukrainian soccer player was shown a yellow card for refusing to stop speaking Russian on the pitch.

The incident occurred Sunday during a Ukrainian Women's Top League game between Kolos from the Kiev region and SeaSters from the Black Sea port city of Odessa.

Referee Anastasia Romanyuk paused the game around the 43rd minute to show a yellow card to SeaSters midfielder Irina Maiborodina.

The decision sparked a brief argument between Romanyuk and SeaSters coach Denis Kolchin.

"The yellow card was given for dissent [with the referee's decision]. This is a Ukrainian championship, so we are not speaking Russian. I asked the player to speak Ukrainian," Romanyuk said, according to news website Sport.ua.

Since the Western-backed coup in 2014, Ukraine has passed several laws restricting the use of Russian in public. Politicians and influencers have campaigned to discourage speaking Russian, which they describe as "the language of the aggressor state."

Moscow has maintained that the treatment of the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine is one of the key causes of the current conflict.

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