A Brazilian soccer player who became a Ukrainian citizen so he could play for their national soccer team has been drafted by the Ukrainian army.
Edmar Halowski de Lacerda is facing the frightening possibility that he will soon join the battle against the Russian-backed rebels who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 last week.
De Lacerda, 34, has been living in Ukraine since 2000 but didn’t become a citizen until 2008, when he got married.
The last thing on his mind when he became a Ukrainian was the possibility of becoming a soldier, Central European News reports.
“I would certainly not anticipated that when I got a Ukrainian passport, the club told me they will try to resolve the issue for me,” he said.
When he first arrived in Ukraine, the army was only drafting high school and college graduates for active military duty, leading the soccer player to believe he would be too old to serve.
“I hadn’t reckoned on this and although I’m a bit nervous that it might not get sorted out, I have to say that my wife is terrified.”
Compulsory military service was supposed to be abolished entirely in 2013, but everything changed when conflicts with Russia started heating up in February.
The military draft was re-established due to the “deteriorating security situation and threats from Russia along the country’s border,” according to Central European News.
The acting president at the time, Oleksandr Turchynov, said he had made the change because he was trying to improve his nation’s defense options.
“Ukrainian male citizens who are physically qualified for military service, over 18 years old and older and who have no right for exemption from military service will be conscripted,” the official military decree said.
Despite the political turmoil going on at the time in Ukraine, de Lacerda chose not to flee like other South Americans living in Ukraine, according to Central European News.
Six soccer players from FC Shaktar Donetsk fled the country, as well as one of de Lacerda’s teammates, Sebastian Blanco.
De Lacerda has now received his orders to report for duty, but admits he has no idea what he’s going to do once he is called into battle.
“To be honest, I don’t know what I would do if I actually went into the army,” he said.
“Playing [soccer] is the only thing I can do.”
The midfielder currently plays for FC Metalist Kharkiv, a team that competes in the Ukrainian Premier league. He has also played for their national team, scoring one goal in 11 outings.