Galatasaray, Dynamo Kyiv teaming up for charity football match for Ukrainian orphans

ANTALYA, Turkiye

Turkish football team Galatasaray and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv are teaming up to stage a charity football match to benefit Ukrainian orphans.

In a show of solidarity and support to the people of Ukraine, Galatasaray will host Mircea Lucescu's side on their home ground, Nef stadium, in a football fundraiser on April 14.

Dynamo Kyiv manager Lucescu – a former manager of Istanbul’s Besiktas, Galatasaray, and the Turkish National Football Team – told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that he spent many years working in Turkiye, stressing that he knows very well how helpful the Turkish people are.

Decrying the “nightmare” that people in Ukraine have been facing for six weeks, Lucescu said: "We want to show our support to them with the football matches we will play. This war will surely come to an end."

"I think that sport is a unifying and restorative element in this pessimistic environment," he added.

Lucescu, now living back home in Romania due to war, said that Dynamo Kyiv will take on Legia Warszawa in Poland on April 12 and then will take on Galatasaray with the slogan "Match for Peace."

On Feb. 24, Ukraine suspended play in its top-tier football league due to the war launched by Russia.

A former manager of both Galatasaray and Besiktas, Lucescu clinched the 2021 Ukrainian Premier League title with Dynamo Kyiv.

Shakhtar Donetsk hired Lucescu in May 2004, kicking off a long-term project.

He led the senior team until May 2016 to win local titles and the 2009 UEFA Cup.

Under the helm of Lucescu, Shakhtar Donetsk dominated the Premier League with eight titles.

At least 1,563 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,213 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.27 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.