Liverpool left-back Milos Kerkez has found himself at the centre of a political uproar.
The fallout stems from Hungary’s 1-0 home defeat to Ukraine in the UEFA Nations League on 25 September. Ukraine midfielder Victor Tsygankov clashed with Hungary captain and Kerkez’s fellow Liverpool teammate, Dominik Szoboszlai.
Kerkez jumped in to defend Szoboszlai, grabbing Tsygankov in the process and earning himself a yellow card. The situation was made worse after the game, when Kerkez’s father posted a photograph of the incident on Instagram, accompanied by a song titled Russian Paradise by rapper AK-47, which apparently references the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The social media post prompted the Myrotvorets database to add both the player and his father to their registry of individuals deemed hostile to Ukraine.
The database operates independently and has no official affiliation with the Ukrainian government.
Kerkez was quick to respond. Speaking to Hungarian outlet Telex, he said: “Personally, I have never supported and I do not support any aggression in my life. I am not a person who considers anything that harms others acceptable.
“At the same time, there is always tension in a football match, and in the match against Ukraine, all I did was defend our captain, my friend, and I would have done this even if any other country had been our opponent.
“Also, it’s important that my father is not me. Whatever he does, I cannot take responsibility for his actions.”
Hopefully his words will help ease the tensions between the two countries and we will all be able to forget this incident. He should warn his father to behave himself on social media, though.
