Former Roma coach Paulo Fonseca and his family have managed to escape Kiev following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Portuguese coach has been out of work since leaving the Giallorossi last summer and he moved to Kiev to be closer to his Ukrainian wife’s family. He previously coached Shakhtar Donetsk and had happily lived in Ukraine for a number of years.
As reported by TNT Portugal, Fonesca and his family managed to leave Kiev thanks to a rescue mission led by the Portuguese embassy. He was taken to Moldova by bus alongside Shakhtar players Edgar Cardoso and Filipe Sousa.
Earlier this week the Portuguese coach released a video discussing the invasion, where he said:
“I woke up at five in the morning with five explosions in a row
“I had a flight scheduled for today, but now it is impossible to leave here, not least because the airports are already destroyed and the airspace has been closed.
“This is the worst day of my life. Now it’s time to wait and be lucky. And pray that a bomb doesn’t fall on us.”
UEFA have decided to move the Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris in response to the invasion, and the Polish FA have announced their boycott of an upcoming 2022 World Cup play-off against the Russian national team.
Fine dell'incubo per Paulo Fonseca: l'ex Roma ha lasciato l'Ucraina, è in Moldavia con la famiglia https://t.co/Rp9OMPF8q3
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) February 26, 2022