After a long and arduous journey, Roberto De Zerbi and his staff have reached Italy after flying home from Hungary. “This is news that we wanted and now fills us with joy,” said FIGC President Gabriele Gravina. “Given the scope of the war in Ukraine, I was in constant contact with Mr De Zerbi and the other Italians on the coaching staff at Shakhtar Donetsk to reassure them and coordinate their evacuation. It was a complex ordeal that would not have been possible without the fundamental support from UEFA and in person from the body’s president Alexander Ceferin, who, in recent hours, has been working tirelessly in order to guarantee the safety of all members of the footballing family, whose lives have been put at grave risk due to the war.”

Given the scope of the conflict in Ukraine, the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio was quick to take up an immediate stance opposing the war, announcing that all matches last weekend would kick off with a five-minute delay as a message of peace. The FIGC is in full support of UEFA in its condemnation of the Russian invasion, which came from the Executive Committee last Friday. “Italian football is united, as is the entire continental game, in its manifestation of concrete solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” Gravina concluded.