Ukrainian refugee joins Faroese top football league

Until recently, Oleksandr Snizhko played in Ukraine’s first football division.

The future was looking bright as his club, FC Alians Lypova Dolyna, was poised for promotion to the country’s top league.

On 17 February, the Alians squad travelled to Turkey for a training camp.

One week later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of his country.

The players remained in Turkey for about three weeks, hoping that the situation in their home country would improve. As we all know, it did not.

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Realising the unlikelihood of football continuing as normal in Ukraine, the coach advised his players to start looking for opportunities elsewhere.

A friend and former teammate of Oleksandr’s contacted a Danish football agent, who called various clubs in Denmark looking for opportunities for the Alians players.

The agent also had links with Faroese top league club AB, based in Argir. He contacted the club and enquired about the possibility of adding a talented Ukrainian midfielder to the club’s squad.

AB accepted the offer without hesitation, and on 15 March Oleksandr landed at Vágar Aiport.

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AB made arrangements with Red Cross Faroe Islands which handled all practical matters, and within days Oleksandr was training in Argir.

”This is a good opportunity to continue my career,” says the 25-year-old midfielder, who spends a lot of his time in the Faroes on the football pitch; however, his thoughts remain fixed on his war-torn country.

“I cannot believe that something like this can happen in the 21st century. It’s like a bad dream that repeats every day. I wake up, read the news and call my family and friends in Ukraine to hear how they are doing.”

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Oleksandr says he is happy to be in the Faroes, and it is also good for his family.

“I’m not a soldier, so I cannot be of much help in the war. It is probably better for my family that I stay here. I am happy to tell them good news every day from my new experiences on and off the pitch here in the Faroe Islands.”

He hopes the war in Ukraine will end soon. If not, he will do everything he can to help his family escape to a safer place.

Oleksandr submitted his application for a Faroese residence/work permit on Monday, which means that he will most likely become an official member of the AB squad within the next week or two.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

Translated by prosa.fo.

More Faroese News in English.