Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko and legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko will captain two teams in a ‘Game4Ukraine’ charity match that will be held at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on August 5. This match is being held to raise money for the reconstruction of a school in Ukraine that was hit by missiles following Russia’s invasion of the country. The announcement was made by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.
The game will feature some of the greatest players of the modern era, including former Chelsea player Shevchenko, who is Ukraine’s all-time top scorer and was also manager of the national team for five years, and Arsenal’s Zinchenko, who is the national team’s current captain. The match will be played the weekend before the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season. Arsenal could yet be involved in the Community Shield on that weekend if Manchester City beat Manchester United in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
All proceeds from the match will go to the Mykhailo-Kotsiubynsky Lyceum in Chernihiv Oblast. Zinchenko, 26, said: “The charity game aims to raise funds for the reconstruction of the school, where children will have their graduation ceremony among the ruins. They need this school and, as a father, I feel and share the pain of every Ukrainian child. I am sure we will see many great players on the pitch, from Arsenal, Chelsea and other top teams.”