Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov refused to respond to recent comments from his teammate to Paris Saint-Germain, Illia Zabarnyi, concerning the Ukrainian conflict.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been raging for over three years. The new summer recruit of PSG, Zabarnyi, originally from Ukraine, openly denounced the difficulties encountered by his compatriots, qualifying the Russians as “aggressors” and claiming that playing alongside his Russian teammate Safonov was a professional “obligation”.
Illya Zabarnyi, solid defender of PSG.
Safonov eludes the question
The Ukrainian defender would also have wanted PSG to separate from the Russian porter, but the French club finally refused to keep them both. However, while a party is openly expressed and continues to support his country on international platforms, Safonov did not wish to start a verbal conflict with his teammate and refused to comment on the words of the former Bournemouth player.
Safonov was recruited by PSG last year from the Russian Krasnodar club for an amount of 20 million euros (17 million pounds Sterling/23 million dollars). The 26-year-old was recruited as a replacement for former player Gianluigi Donnarumma and played 17 games in all competitions in the 2024-25 season.
In an interview with Football 360, Zabarnyi spoke of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and his relationship with Safnov.
“In my country, a widespread war has been raging for four years. The Russians are attackers who try in vain to destroy the freedom and independence of Ukraine. I have no personal relationship with Russians. I have to interact with (Safonov) at a professional level during training and fulfill my obligations to the club. But as long as the war continues, I fully support the isolation of Russian football in the world. »»
During an interaction with Sport Express, Safonov refused to comment on Zabaryni's words, saying: ” I won't do it. “
PSG replaced Donnarumma by former Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier. Chevalier is the new PSG -titular goalkeeper, which reduces Safonov's interactions with Zabarnyi on the ground.
