Global Tour for Peace
The "Global Tour for Peace" is an ongoing European tour of international club friendlies organised by Ukrainian football clubs whose football league had to cease due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The aim of the tour is to raise funds to provide aid for people in Ukraine affected by the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian teams involved with the tour are Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, the two most successful teams coming out the Ukrainian Premier League, as well as the Ukraine national football team who are playing friendlies in preparation for their World Cup  qualification games in June 2022. The Dynamo Kyiv tour is playing under the names "Match for Peace! Stop the War!" and "Hand in Hand for Peace", while the Shakhtar Donestsk tour is playing under the name "Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace". Organisation of the tour. On 24 February 2022 Russian forces invaded Ukraine resulting in all sporting events in Ukraine being stopped. In the initial days of the war players and staff members of Dynamo Kyiv helped people from the capital to flee the city and country, while also helping those who stayed in Kyiv. Dynamo Kyiv suggested to Ukrainian  president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that the clubs personnel could leave Ukraine and go on a tour around Europe spreading Ukraine's message of peace. Zelenskyy agreed to the tour, and the club left Ukraine and based themselves in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. After Dynamo's plans for a tour were accepted Shakhtar Donetsk, who had been displaced from their home city since 2014 due to the War in Donbas, formally applied to Zelenskyy too to start their own tour and the right to leave the country during the war. Shakhtar based themselves in Riva, Istanbul, Turkey. The main objective of the  tour is to help raise money for humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion and for Ukrainians who have been displaced by the war. A secondary objective of the tour is also helping Ukrainian national team players prepare for their World Cup qualifying games against Scotland, and potentially Wales, after their domestic league was cancelled after the invasion denying the international players the chance to stay match fit. The tour is fully supported by UEFA, the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, and the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The tour. Greece. The tour started on 9 April 2022 with Shakhtar Donetsk playing in Greece against Olympiacos. This was the first time a professional team from Ukraine had played a game since the invasion of Russian forces. The teams wore "Stop War" on their shirts in place of sponsors, with Shakhtar players wearing names of cities and towns heavily bombed by Russian forces in place of their own last names. The stadium however saw a low attendance, in part due to the event being organised at short notice, with another factor being that Olympiacos ultras  were not wanting to condemn the war due to their fan friendship with Russian football team Spartak Moscow. Those Olympiacos fans who were in attendance left toys on empty seats to be donated to the children of Ukraine. Shakhtar, who had only 1 training session since the invasion and with the loss of all of their foreign born players due to the invasion, fell to a 1–0 defeat. The amount raised from the Olympiacos game was 3.2 million hryvnia (€100k). Poland. Dynamo Kyiv's tour started on 12 April 2022 in the Polish capital, playing against the Polish champions  Legia Warsaw. The match was attended by over 20,000, however the fans from the Żyleta section of the stadium were notably absent, with a Legia fan group announcing that after discussions with Dynamo fans, who feel that their owners Ihor and Hryhoriy Surkis have pro-Russian views, decided not to attend the match. Before the game both teams players were draped in Ukrainian flags, with a large banners of "Stop The War" featuring on the Żyleta end of the stadium, and banners of "Stop Russia Now" also featuring around the ground. Dynamo won their match with their first goal of  the tour coming from Vitaliy Buyalskyi. The match paired up to being a concert too, with performances before and after the game, as well as during half-time. The singing performances for the Legia game were from Tina Karol, Julia Sanina (from the band The Hardkiss), Kateryna Pavlenko, and Dorofeeva. Due to Poland accepting more Ukrainian refugees than any other country the game in Warsaw saw a large amount of Ukrainian's in attendance who had either been displaced by the initial invasion in 2014, or displaced by the more recent events in 2022. Prior to the Lechia Gdańsk game  against Shakhtar an initiative was set up by the Gdańsk Foundation as part of the "Gdańsk Helps Ukraine" campaign called the "Ticket for Peace". The initiative was set up so that people could make a ticket donation online so that a Ukrainian refugee living in Gdańsk would be able to attend the game for free. Lechia brought out a red kit for specifically for the game, with Shakhtar opting to wear their white third kit for the game. The game was 2–1 to Shakhtar going into stoppage time, with Lechia equalising in the 92nd minute. After Lechia's equaliser, Dmytro  Keda, a 12 year old Shakhtar fan who had escaped from the Siege of Mariupol and fled to Poland, came on as a substitute and scored Shakhtar's winning goal in the 94th minute. The first two goals in the tour for Shakhtar both came from Mykhaylo Mudryk, and the game saw over 12,000 spectators in attendance, the second highest attendance Lechia had for a home game that season. The total amount raised from the Polish section of the tour was 9.5 million hryvnia (€298k). ₴7 million (€220k) was raised from the Legia game, and ₴2.5  million (€78k) from the Lechia game. Turkey. The tour in Turkey, which would see three games being played in the Turkish capital Istanbul, started on 14 April 2022. The first game played in Turkey was between Dynamo and Galatasaray. The game saw the Dynamo manager, Mircea Lucescu, facing the team he had previously managed from 2000–02. Apart from Galatasary, Lucescu also managed Beşiktaş and the Turkish national team, highlighting before the game that "he knows very well how helpful the Turkish people are" and the hopes that the games in Turkey can help to raise the needed funds for  those Ukrainians who have been displaced. The crowd for the Galatasaray was a contrast of what was experienced with Dynamo's game against Legia, where the large amount of Ukrainians in attendance made the game feel more like both sides were equally supported. The Galatasaray fans made a more intimidating atmosphere, one which would be expected in a European club game. Despite the loud support for the home team, Dynamo comfortably won the match 3–1 with both Buialskyi and Besedin each scoring in their second consecutive game of the tour. The second game of the tour to be played in  Turkey was Fenerbahçe against Shakhtar. This was to be the first of two games in the Turkish capital for Shakthar who have based themselves in the city for the duration of the tour. While warming up, Shakhtar players wore t-shirts showing a picture of a 4 year old Ukrainian girl called Alisa, who has been trapped in Mariupol during the seige, and at the time of the game had spent 55 days living underground in a bunker. Over 11,000 fans attended the game, with chants of "Ukraine! Ukraine! Ukraine!" being heard from Fenerbahçe fans and Ukrainians in attendance throughout  the match. Despite both teams hitting the woodwork, Fenerbahçe won the game 1–0 with the only goal coming in the first half from Enner Valencia. After the match, while the story of Alisa and the pre-match shirts was again being highlighted, comments made by the Shakhtar goalkeeper, Andriy Pyatov, stated that more attention needed to be given to the fact that over 200 Ukrainian children had already lost their lives due to the actions of the Russian army and calling for the Russian army to stop their war of aggression. Shakhtar's second and the third game to be  played in Turkey was the game against Antalyaspor. Before the game Shakhtar players once again wore tshirts bearing a message of the war. Before the game with Antalyaspor the warm-up shirts highlighted the number of children who had been killed since the outbreak of the war. The two teams started the game well, each finding the net in the first quarter of the game. After going in level at the break, both teams made a high number of substitutions with Shakhtar edging the game with a late goal. Romania. The tour visiting Romania was meant to see Dynamo Kyiv  playing FCSB on 20 April 2022. However, on 14 April Dynamo cancelled the planned game with FCSB after comments and accusations made by the clubs owner, Gigi Becali, on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Azov Battalion, and the supposed role of billionaires on Zelenskyy winning the presidential election. Dynamo stated that the FCSB owners comments were inadmissible, and that while Dynamo appreciated the efforts of the club with helping to organise training facilities and the teams stay in Romania, Dynamo no longer saw a friendly with the club as feasible. Dynamo announced in the same statement that the tour in Romania would  instead see the club facing the Romanian champions CFR Cluj on 20 April. Before the Dynamo game with Cluj, it was announced that like the Legia game, this game would also be partnered up into being a concert with songs before and after the game, as well as at half time. The line-up for the concert was similar to that of the concert at the Legia game, with Julia Sanina, Kateryna Pavlenko, and Dorofeeva all returning, with Tina Karol being replaced by Ruslana. The pre-match concert saw 200 Ukrainian refugees on the stage on the pitch with Ruslana  while she performed her song. The game itself was filled with many chances for both sides, however neither side could find the opening goal with the game finishing 0–0, the first draw in the tour, and the first time a game finished goalless on the tour. Germany. The tour arrived in Germany for its eighth game, with Dynamo's fourth game of the tour coming against Borussia Dortmund. The game with Borussia was one of the first games of the tour to be organised, leading to the possibility of greater planning and fundraising efforts for the game. Due to the  size of the club, and the global reach the club holds, this game was the biggest yet to be held on the tour, with Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko thanking "BVB and everyone who made this game possible". Fund raising efforts took place before the match, with Borussia selling blue and yellow wristbands with all of the proceeds being donated to charity. In total the game with Borussia raised over €400,000 for Ukrainian refugees, with the possibility of the final amount that is to be donated being higher. The game itself started at a fast pace. Borussia were without many  of their first team players, but still featuring big names such as Emre Can, Marco Reus, and Erling Haaland, took the lead after 4 minutes when Haaland assisted Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. Dynamo, who were starting the game with 11 Ukrainian internationals, quickly found themselves back in the game after levelling on 9 minutes. Dynamo turned the game around, taking the lead only two minutes later, and had the chance to extend their lead further with a penalty which was ultimately saved by the Dortmund goalkeeper. While both teams continued to attack and ultimately score goals, Dynamo secured their third victory  of the tour with a 3–2 win over the German footballing giants. The amount raised from the Borussia game was 12.8 million hryvnia (€400k). Croatia. After Dynamo's game in Germany, both teams travelled to Croatia for a double header on the tour, with Dynamo playing Dinamo Zagreb on 28 April 2022 with Shakhtar playing 3 days later on 1 May 2022 against Hajduk Split. Before the Dynamo game against their namesake, Dinamo, the Croatian club announced that it would releasing a special shirt with a limited run of 1000 to be sold to fans with all of the  profits going towards the humanitarian effort that the tour is supporting. Due to Dinamo still being involved in a title fight in their domestic league, the Zagreb side was composed of first team players as well as players from the Dinamo Zagreb II team. Dynamo Kyiv started the game strongly scoring two goals in the opening 20 minutes, however the first half was to be high scoring with Dinamo Zagreb equalising on the 38th minute, with the first half ending 2–2. Despite the strong start from both teams, neither side was able to find the net in the second half , with the game finishing 2–2 and ensuring that Dynamo went unbeaten in their opening 5 games of the tour. Before the Shakhtar game with Hajduk Split, the Croatian club gave the chance for Ukrainian children who fled Ukraine to the city of Split a tour of the clubs facilities as well as tickets to the game. Hajduk also announced that the match worn shirts were to be auctioned off after the game to raise funds for the charity. The Shakhtar came onto the pitch wearing shirts with "SAVE MARIUPOL" and "WE AZOVSTAL" (We are Azovstal) written on the front in  reference to the long lasting siege of Mariupol, which had lasted 66 days at the time of the game. Viktor Korniyenko joined the Shakhtar team for the first time on the tour, having taken part in the territorial defence of Poltava region. Once the game started, Shakthar found themselves on the backfoot, with Hajduk starting strongly. Hajduk led 1–0 at the break, taking a 2–0 lead shortly after. Shakhtar eventually levelled after the goal from Petro Stasyuk, one of the few Mariupol players who were playing with Shakhtar on the tour. After one more goal for each side, the teams  ended the game level at 3–3, Shakhtars first draw on the tour, and the highest scoring game in the tour. International break. Both Dynamo and Shakhtar will be taking a break from their tours due to the national team training camp which is starting on 4 May. While there was reluctance from Dynamo's board and their manager, Mircea Lucescu, to release the players, with Lucesu stating that he believed the players would be better prepared for the upcoming qualification game against Scotland by continuing the tour. Dynamo however did not schedule any games to be played during the month  long training camp, with the Dynamo players expected to join the national team after their game against FC Basel. The training camp is to be based in Slovenia. The Ukraine national team have also scheduled their own games to be played as part of preparation for the upcoming game against Scotland, also with all of the proceeds going to charity. Ukraine's first game will be on 11 May, playing against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Games. The games played by Dynamo and Shakhtar during their tour. Fundraising. The main fundraising events are the football games themselves, however other fundraisers or initiatives have  helped to either increase money by other donations, or to help people attend the game. In Greece for the game with Olympiacos, the fans donated 176 toys to be given to Ukrainian children, 176 being the same number of children who had died in the conflict up to that point. For the Polish section of the tour, Legia Warsaw hosted 4 Ukrainian singers to sing before the game, turning the football game into mini concert before kick-off, and thus making the event more lucrative for people not solely interested in football to attend. Fundacja Gdańska raised money before the  Lechia game where donations would equal the equivalent of free tickets for Ukrainians to attend the game. This fundraiser raised the equivalent of 6,800zł, which would have been enough to provide free tickets for 680 Ukrainians living in Gdańsk. Statistics. Goalscorers. 4 goals 3 goals 2 goals 1 goal Dynamo Kyiv concerts. Those games that Dynamo played during the evenings featured a concert, where Ukrainian singers sang songs before the game, at half time, and after the game. The first concert to be paired to a game on the tour was Dynamo's game against Legia Warsaw, with two further  concerts following. Dynamo's game with Galatasaray was played in the afternoon and did not feature any performances of the Ukrainian singers, the only Dynamo friendly so far to not feature a concert. The games where concerts were apart of the tour were; The singers who featured in the concerts for the games listed above;