Ukraine FA bans Tymoshchuk for life over Zenit involvement

Former Ukraine captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk has been given a life-long ban from "engaging in football activities" in his homeland amid silence on Russia's invasion and continued association with Russian club Zenit.

The Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) has also stripped Tymoshchuk of his coaching license and de-recognised his on-field accomplishments, which include silverware and a record 144 caps.

The proposals were announced earlier this week by the UAF’s ethics and fair play committee, which accused Tymoshchuk of making a "conscious choice" that "damages the image of Ukrainian football".

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Zenit owned and controlled by Gazprom

Tymoshchuk, 42, was a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich in 2013. Either side of his four-year spell in Germany, he had stints with Zenit, and in 2016 he joined up again with the Russian Premier League club in a coaching role.

The UAF ethics investigators said that by continuing to work for Zenit – who are owned and sponsored by majority state-controlled energy company Gazprom – while Russian forces invade Ukraine, Tymoshchuk was breaching the association's code of ethics and fair play.

The ethics committee said in a statement on the UAF website: "Since the beginning of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, Tymoshchuk, the former captain of the Ukrainian national team, has not only made no public statements in this regard, nor has he stopped his cooperation with the aggressor's club.

"By making this conscious choice, Tymoshchuk damages the image of Ukrainian football."

Tymoshchuk won Ukrainian Premier League, Ukrainian Cup and Ukrainian Super Cup honours with Shakhtar Donetsk before his first spell at Zenit.