Paris Saint-Germain team-mates Matvey Safonov and Ilya Zabarnyi have no personal relationship due to their nationalities, according to reports.
Safonov, who has overtaken Lucas Chevalier as PSG’s undisputed No 1, is Russian, with Zabarnyi, one of the club’s back-up centre backs, from Ukraine.
The two countries have been at war since the former invaded the latter more than four years ago, and it seems the politics have spilled over into club football.
In a recent intra-squad friendly, the two players were put on opposite sides and, according to BILD, refused to shake hands before the game.
The two players are reported to avoid being near each other in training, with the club taking action to ensure that is the case too. They have played together 13 times for PSG since Zabarnyi joined from Bournemouth last summer.
The centre back, who left the Cherries in a £54.5million deal, has spoken out on his relationship with Sofonov this season.
Ilya Zabarnyi (centre) and Matvey Safonov (third right) refuse to have any kind of relationship due to their nationalities
‘In my country, a full-scale war has been raging for four years,’ he said. ‘The Russians are aggressors who are trying in vain to destroy the freedom and independence of Ukraine.
‘I do not maintain any personal relations with any Russians. I have to interact with (Safonov) on a professional level during training and fulfil my obligations to the club. But as long as the war continues, I fully support the isolation of Russian football in the world.’
Sofonov was later asked if he would give a response, to which he replied: ‘I won’t.’
The Russian is starting in goal for PSG in the Champions League final against Arsenal. Zabarnyi, meanwhile, is on the bench, with Marquinhos and Willian Pacho preferred ahead of him.
