Six soccer players for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine have refused to return to the country after a game in Lyon, France, do to the unrest in the nation.
The six players come from South America, five Brazilians, Douglas Costa, Fred, Dentinho, Alex Teixiera, Ismaily and one Argentine, Facundo Ferreyra, and are considered some of the top players on the team that regularly plays in the Champions League in Europe, according to CNN.
The five players are worth a combined £46 million, according to the BBC.
The President of FC Shakhtar, Rinat Akhemtov, said in a statement, that he thinks that the players will return soon, but if they don’t they will suffer.
“If they do not come, I think, they will be the first to suffer. Each of them has a minimum release clause, which is tens of millions of euros. If someone wants to reduce this by a million, then such a decision is our right. There won’t be a clearance sale!”
Akehmtov also said that the players should not fear anything going back to Donetsk.
Pro-Russian separatists control Donetsk, the largest Ukrainian city, as we previously reported.
The Ukrainian soccer league is supposed to start this weekend, but the Ukrainian Football Federation does not know where the Donetsk will play their home games.