Serhiy Rebrov Apologizes for Padel Match with Vasily Berezutsky

Serhiy Rebrov has issued a public apology after a video of him playing padel with former Russia international Vasily Berezutsky ignited anger on Ukrainian social media.

The clip, filmed in Marbella, Spain, showed the pair as doubles partners and spread rapidly in recent days. The exact date of the recording remains unknown, but the reaction in Ukraine was immediate and fierce, with many fans accusing the former national team coach of crossing a line at a time of war.

Under pressure, Rebrov responded on Instagram, stressing both regret and loyalty.

“I knew about Berezutsky’s antiwar stance, but I wasn’t aware that he had recently gone to Russia to work as a coach — I don’t follow football in the terrorist state,” he wrote. “As a public figure, I want to apologize to the Ukrainians I offended by doing this, but I ask that no one doubt my pro-Ukrainian stance.”

The 50-year-old took charge of Ukraine’s national team in 2023, leading them through a turbulent qualifying cycle before stepping down in the spring of 2026 after failing to reach the World Cup. He has since moved upstairs, now serving as a vice president of the Ukrainian Association of Football, which only sharpened the spotlight on his actions in Spain.

Berezutsky, meanwhile, is a familiar name to anyone who followed Russian football in the 2010s. A defensive pillar for CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team, he built a reputation as one of the era’s most reliable centre-backs. On February 24, 2022, as Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, he was among the few Russian athletes to speak out publicly, posting the message “No to war” on social media.

At that time, Berezutsky worked on the CSKA coaching staff under his twin brother, Alexei. When the club dismissed Alexei as head coach in the summer of 2022, Vasily left Russia for Spain, stepping away from the domestic scene he had long inhabited.

The story did not end there. In December 2025, Berezutsky returned to Russian football as head coach of Ural, a club battling in the First League and chasing promotion to the Russian Premier League. The push fell short. Ural missed out on promotion, and Berezutsky left his role at the end of the season.

Those career moves now sit at the heart of the backlash aimed at Rebrov. His claim that he did not know Berezutsky had gone back to work in Russia has become the central point of debate: a question of how closely a prominent Ukrainian football figure can, or should, monitor the choices of former colleagues from across the border.

What is not in doubt is the sensitivity of the moment. In a country at war, a casual padel match in Marbella has become something far more charged, forcing one of Ukrainian football’s most prominent figures to publicly reaffirm where he stands.