LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (02/10/02)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Mr. Surkis, what about the Ukrainian language?

Dear Editor:

After Ukraine failed to make the finals of World Cup soccer for the third successive time, Ukraina Moloda, a Kyiv publication had a front page headline asking: "Will Ukraine qualify in 2004, or will it be 4002?"

The following week, the president of the Ukrainian Soccer Federation, Hryhorij Surkis apologized for the failure, but at the same time defended his position at a national conference by informing the 120 delegates of the progress made in the 10 years since Ukraine became recognized as a football (i.e. soccer) nation.

One cannot argue with Mr. Surkis on that point as Ukraine, in one of its first matches, was beaten 2-0 by Lithuania, in Kyiv. Lithuania is a soccer minnow, marginally rated above Andorra, Leichtenstein and Luxembourg. He also made the valid point that up to three years ago the Ukrainian Soccer Federation had no established office. Nobody can argue he has not made a significant contribution to Ukrainian soccer.

But, unfortunately, Mr. Surkis has done nothing for the Ukrainian language, and this is the reason for my letter. The lack of progress regarding the Ukrainian language among the soccer hierarchy, including officials and players, is astounding. In Kyiv, headquarters for the national team and the legendary Dynamo, the Ukrainian language is non-existent. For Mr. Surkis and brother Ihor, Valery Lobanovsky and newly appointed Ukrainian coach Leonid Buriak, all household names, their means of communication is totally Russian - whether at training or with the media.

Worse still, foreign players are forced to learn Russian for one hour per day, making one wonder: Where does Ukraine fit into this picture? Or, 10 years after independence, is Ukrainian soccer still living in the Soviet Union?

As the above-mentioned gentlemen look like they will be in power for many more years to come, one must ask if there will be a change in policy. And who is going to initiate it? And who will remind the Ukrainian soccer establishment that Ukraine has a language of its own, if the federation president, Mr. Surkis, is unconcerned?

Is it any wonder that in Russia they pretend that Ukraine does not exist as a sovereign, independent state if we continue to use their Russian language?

I am not completely naive, and I understand that this is a major cultural change for soccer clubs in Crimea or even Donetsk and that the 10 years since independence may have not been long enough - but not for Kyiv.

In complete contrast, Lviv's Karpaty soccer club, which also has had an influx of foreigners, is asking its players to learn Ukrainian. There is no problem; players even from distant Africa are resigned to the one-hour daily lessons. Russian-speaking Andrii Chernov, who joined Karpaty from Odesa last summer and is the hottest young property since Andrii Shevchenko, made it known in a recent press interview that learning Ukrainian is a must to play soccer in Ukraine.

So why are the same rules and expectations not applicable to the leaders, officials and players of the national team and Dynamo Kyiv - the idols of our young Ukrainian generation?

Mr. Surkis has done much for Ukrainian soccer, but he appears to be unaware that his presidential responsibilities comprise more than just winning matches.

I do want this message brought to the attention of Mr. Surkis, although I do not have his address. I do not reach Mr. Surkis, this has been a waste of time. I am hoping readers of The Weekly can assist in this matter.

Nestor Jaworsky
Melbourne, Australia

1998 UNA elections were indeed a fiasco

Dear Editor:

In the January 27 issue of The Ukrainian Weekly, Taras Szmagala Jr. wrote an interesting op-ed titled "Here we go again...". Mr. Szmagala raises several very interesting points about our election process. He calls the elections of the 34th Convention of the UNA a "fiasco." I wholeheartely agree.

I was a credentialed delegate at that convention and was personally affected by the election process. I well remember quite a few potential candidates standing and professing their intentions. I remember well one well-known candidate declaring that she would not seek re-election. I remember getting in line and hearing the wave of whispers, that she had changed her mind. President Ulana Diachuk then went on to win re-election. I'm not sure if this was back-room politics, but it was her right to change her mind.

I, in fact, ran unsuccessfully for advisor. I came without any literature. I decided to run about the same time that President Diachuk did. I wrote my name in, along with a few other candidates' names, and went back to take my seat. When the tally of votes was reported, my name was missing. I knew had received at least three votes, but the official tally had none. It was a "fiasco."

What had happened? Who knows? Perhaps confusion over my last name had given my votes to someone else. Perhaps the elections committee thought my votes were actually votes for my father, or brother. Perhaps my votes went to Roman Kuropas, or maybe they just lost my ballot. Maybe they couldn't read it and tossed it. I'll never know, but I do know that this was the "fiasco."

Being able to wait until the convention is something we shouldn't change. If I had to decide prior to the convention, I wouldn't have run. I probably wouldn't be interested in going to this year's convention.

The problem with the Toronto convention was the balloting. Excuses for the confusion were given. They included: "some of the writing was hard to read," "names were misspelled and we didn't know who to give the vote to," and "some of the names weren't translated correctly." We know who is on the current General Assembly, and we have a list of all of the delegates attending the convention. We should be able to make a copy of this information and hand it out to our delegates, so when they vote they can spell the names correctly and avoid any confusion. Mr. Szmagala and I spoke about this during the Toronto convention. We agreed to look into this being a possibility for 2002. Taras, the time is now.

Michael Kuropas
Sycamore, Ill.

The letter-writer was a delegate to the 34th Convention of the UNA, held in 1998 in Toronto, and is president of UNA Branch 22 and a member of Chicago Convention Committee.

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