Euro Cup: Ukraine's jersey provokes massive outrage in Russia

European Football Championship is all set to run from June 11 to July 11. The 24-nation tournament will be played across 11 stadiums in 11 different countries. The tournament was initially scheduled in 2020 but was postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As the Championship is just a few days away, Ukraine’s Football team unveiled their new jersey for the competition.

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However, the new kit introduced by Ukraine has caused a massive outrage in Russia. The jersey sports a map of the country including Crimea. Notably, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Though Moscow considers Crimea peninsula as a part of Russia, internally it is still recognised as a Ukraine part.

Apart from the map, there are two slogans too on the jersey. On the front side, "Glory to Ukraine!" is printed while the inside the shirt is a slogan that declares "Glory to the heroes!" The new jersey was unveiled by the head of the Ukrainian football association, Andriy Pavelko on the team’s official facebook handle.

While revaleing the new jersey, Pavelko said, "We believe that Ukraine's silhouette will give strength to the players because they will fight for all of Ukraine."

After a massive controversy, the head of European Football’s Governing body, UEFA cleared the stance of the organsiation saying,  "The shirt of the Ukrainian national team (and of all other teams) for Uefa Euro 2020 has been approved by Uefa, in accordance with the applicable equipment regulations.

However, the jersey has been criticised by Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as she said that the slogans are nationalistic and echoed a Nazi rallying cry.