José Carlos Fernández: “We soccer players can raise a voice of protest and make people feel that we want peace in the world” | INTERVIEW

Almost 15 years ago, in Odessa, three Peruvians could walk around without fear of a conflict, or at least they felt that way. For 2008, Paolo de la Haza, Jose Carlos Fernandez and Édgar Villamarín arrived in the Ukraine to play for Chornomorets. The football experience was not as much as that of living in a country totally different from Peru and José Carlos tells us how he spent that year that he had to be in territory that is currently experiencing the Russia-Ukraine War.

In 2008 there were political conflicts and the country’s economic growth stopped, but the football world in Ukraine was preparing to host the European Championship four years later. In this context, the Peruvians landed in Odessa.

—Today, with everything that is happening, what does Ukraine mean to you?

—A place where I lived, where I had good things, bad things. I met good people with the South Americans and the translator. A decision I made in my life that I do not regret.

—How was living in the Ukraine, a country so different from the Peruvian culture?

—It was strange, it’s another culture. The language, not understanding and not making yourself understood is already complicated. But in football we know that one goes from one side to the other, that’s why within the campus there was no marked distance. When you went out on the street it was clear that we were foreigners and the language was not easy to understand, nor did they do much to make themselves understood. We never had any problems, they never made us feel bad, but if we took a taxi and we didn’t know how to explain, they didn’t have the patience to try to understand them.

“The treatment wasn’t bad, but they didn’t make them feel part of… Is that right?”

—The team always received us well. The theme was that day-to-day people couldn’t do much of their part to make you feel good. It was like if you don’t understand me bad luck and find out how you make yourself understood.

—Was there an air of conflict felt where they lived?

-No, we had to live a very nice stage because they were preparing for the European Championship that they organized with Poland. There was never any tension or anything related to a war or a conflict.

—And when did they travel to other cities?

-No not at all. We were never warned, we were never sorry, not at all.

Peruvian soccer players in Ukraine and Russia

“Did you leave any links in the Ukraine?” Friends?

-Very difficult. We kept in touch until a few years later with the translator who was Ukrainian, but I have not had contact with him for a long time. It was difficult to establish relationships beyond the courts.

—And how was the deal with the translator?

—He was a Ukrainian who had lived in Argentina. We had a very good relationship with him, he was always willing to help us South Americans back then. His work was 24/7 because there were kids who had his family and he was always willing to help. His name was Kirin, but I don’t remember his last name. He had a good relationship with us, beyond that it was his job.

—What was the hardest thing you had to live?

—What affected you the most was the cold. In football everything was similar, the routine, the meals. They have other customs, but what cost me the most was the cold.

—And there the relationship between Peruvians was strengthened, especially with Villamarín.

“I am godfather to your second daughter. We had shared in Cienciano and then we had to be there with him and with Paolo too, who were all three Peruvians. We were always together. Then we had to spend four years in Alianza together and we became very good friends. In fact, being so long, we became familiar.

—What did it mean to live in the Ukraine?

—For me it was a nice, different experience. It is not one of the first options you have to visit, but I did like getting to know a different country, a different society. P

—Did you get to know more about the country, about the cities?

—Yes, Paolo de la Haza’s wife was very keen to find out everything about the country and what things there were to visit nearby. We had days off and she told us: “Today it’s time to see this”, and we were going to see some fortress, some old castle. We went to Kiev.

-What struck you the most?

—I really liked that we were close to the sea, that we could go in the spring. The tours were guided, but they were in Russian. In addition, at that time there was not much use of the internet. I bought a book with something in Spanish or English, but there wasn’t much detailed information.

—That helped you later to decide on which offers from abroad to accept?

-Yes and no, because that was the first time I went abroad and with all the emotion I went without finding out much about the country, about the situation of the team. More than anything, the experience of going helped me to be careful when deciding where to go. It does not mean that I have regretted it, quite the opposite. I had a good time, the club was first class in facilities, the treatment was first class. I would have liked to know a little more about what it was like to live there.

—Odesa today is one of the places where the war is centered.

“That port of Odessa also had an important place in World War II.

—How do you follow the war between Russia and Ukraine?

—. In 2014 I didn’t feel it so much [Guerra de Crimea], but now that’s how I’m trying to follow everything. I take it sadly, because in a war many innocent people die, cities are destroyed. It is absurd that today one cannot sit down to talk to solve problems and sometimes due to ego of power and other things that are not important for life itself, so many lives have to be sacrificed.

-Besides, there is always that of wanting to return to the place where you left happy

—It would be nice to be able to return as a tourist, get to know, see what changed. Visiting the club’s facilities… well.

—How much do the voices of football express themselves against the conflict?

— In fact, some Ukrainian players have raised their voices of protest on social networks, we have seen what Schalke has done, which has removed the Gazprom logo from its shirt, now the Champions League final will no longer be in St. Petersburg . So, from that point it can be seen that we want peace in the world.

-Many times football has been frivolized because of the rules of nothing about politics or religion in football

—But one thing is FIFA and another is the players on their social networks. In recent times, due to the pandemic and racism, and there if everyone is affected in one way or another.