Fleeed from Ukraine for the sake of Russian media football: Oleksiy Sidorov found a new team

Ukrainian striker Oleksiy Sidorov decided to continue his career in Russia by joining the club of the Russian media league. The transfer of the 25-year-old football player turned into a loud scandal, as the player is still bound by a valid professional contract with FC Kharkiv until June 30, 2028.  Arbitrarily leaving the location of the club and leaving the borders of Ukraine in the summer of 2025, Sydorov ignored repeated demands of the management to return to the performance of labor duties. Subsequently, FC Kharkiv announced that it had received information about a request to issue Sydorov's transfer certificate to a Russian club. Kharkiv residents publicly condemned the treasonous actions of their player and have already appealed to the Ukrainian Football Association and FIFA: The club categorically refused to approve the transfer request and demanded the application of strict disciplinary sanctions against the fugitive player. UAF was called to take all legal measures to completely block the transfer at the FIFA level. Representatives of Kharkiv residents emphasized that they will defend their contractual rights in all international judicial and football courts. As a reminder, Oleksiy Sidorov is a 25-year-old native of Makiyivka (Donetsk region), who until recently was considered one of the most promising scorers of Ukrainian football outside the giants. He was trained at Shakhtar Donetsk academy, and later played for the youth teams of Mariupol Azovstal and Kharkiv Metalist. He received recognition in Zaporizhzhia Metallurg, where he became the main striking force of the team. In the 2022/23 season, he scored 11 goals in 22 matches and became one of the top scorers in the First League. In total, he played 74 matches for Zaporozhye, scoring 30 goals. In the summer of 2023, he moved to Metalist 1925. This deal became the most expensive sale in the history of the Zaporizhia club. In the 2024/25 season, he became a bronze medalist of the First League as part of the Kharkiv team. Subsequently, he played on loan in the elite division for Kovaliv Kolos, where he played a number of matches and in May 2025 even scored against Dynamo Kyiv. Despite obvious football prospects in the Motherland, the player chose to travel abroad illegally and perform in the media tournament of the aggressor country, putting a cross on his reputation in Ukraine.