Defiant Darijo Srna tells Shakhtar's truth as FIFA accused of Ukraine war failure

It is easy to understand why Darijo Srna is known as the "Icon of Shakhtar Donestk". Few players are as synonymous with their club this century as the former full-back is with the Ukrainian giants.

The Croat won 27 trophies across a glittering 15-year playing career with Shakhtar and his club record 536 first-team appearances included captaining them to the 2009 UEFA Cup triumph – the only time a Ukrainian club have won either of Europe’s primary club competitions – with a Man of the Match performance.

Srna rejected opportunities to join Chelsea and Bayern Munich during his glittering club career, opting to remain loyal to the club of his adopted home in Donestk. He stuck with Shakhtar after they were forcibly moved from their home city in 2014 due to the war in the Donbas region between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists. Eight years on, Srna is the club’s Director of Football as Russia escalated the situation with a full-scale invasion of the country.

Speaking with the passion and eloquence that has marked his career, the 40-year-old does not believe that he or Shakhtar Donestk have been given the platform to share the truth.

So Mirror Football opened the floor for him to tell his story.

With domestic football in Ukraine hopeful of restarting to coincide with Ukraine Independence Day on 24 August after a six-month enforced shutdown, Srna struck an upbeat tone and stressed how football’s symbolism could play its part for the nation.

Srna, who grew up with the backdrop of the Balkans War in the former Yugoslavia, explained: “Six or seven months after the beginning of that war, they started organising the Croatian league again and playing games.

“Football is something which unites the people and Ukraine is a