Arsenal Vs Vorskla: More than football

Arsenal’s Europa League match with Vorskla on Thursday night is in serious doubt after the Ukranian club said that they could not guarantee their appearance. While it is normal to look at this from a football angle, there is much more than just a game being 22 men going on here.

Arsenal are meant to be playing a game of football on Thursday night. Like every game of football, it consists of eleven men playing another set of eleven men, all trying to kick one ball into two goals. It is played on grass, with a referee, and two managers. But that is where the similarities between this match and the sport end. It is also where any meaning ends.

As has been reported extensively over the past week, and most specifically on Wednesday when Vorksla Poltava, the Ukranian opponents against which Arsenal would be trying to kick the ball into a goal, stated that they could not guarantee their appearance, this match has been in great jeopardy.

This week, amid rising conflict and pressure with Russia, Ukraine voted to introduce martial law in 10 of its regions all across the Russian border. Initially, the match was moved from Vorskla to the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. But now, it looks as though the game might not even go ahead whatsoever. And really, that is the least consequential development to come from this story.

While, in our sport-isolated world that looks at every news item, every government vote, every worldwide development through the lens of sport, this may seem like the most significant impact from Ukraine inciting martial law, really, it does not even come close. In fact, it pales in comparison to the real-life consequences of the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, especially in the Crimea and east of Ukraine. Russia has inhabited the east of Ukraine. Many people have subsequently fled to west Ukraine, but those that have stayed live in a place devoid of an economy, in destitute poverty, ran by a government that cannot admit they are there.

And as Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday afternoon, Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko has increased tensions as FSB and Ukrainian ships have clashed on the Crimean peninsula. Putin described it as a ‘provocation’, arguing that Poroshenko is simply trying to up his ratings prior to 2019’s general election. Meanwhile, the FSB opened fire on three Ukranian boats and ultimately seized 24 Ukrainian sailors.

I love football. I really do. I love watching it. I love playing it. I love talking about it. But sometimes, football really is not very important. This is one of those times. It may be a little frustrating to see Arsenal’s game delayed or moved. It may be annoying if it is played behind closed doors and we do not get to watch it. But does that really matter when two countries are at war and innocent civilians, in the middle of it all, are seeing their lives ripped to shreds right before their eyes?

Sometimes, there is more to life than football.