Serhiy Rebrov Apologizes for Padel Video with Vasily Berezutsky

Serhiy Rebrov has issued a public apology after a video of him playing padel with former Russia defender Vasily Berezutsky triggered a backlash in Ukraine.

The clip, filmed in Marbella, Spain, showed the pair as doubles partners on a padel court. It is not known when the footage was taken, but once it hit Ukrainian social media, it spread fast and drew heavy criticism of the former national team coach.

Under pressure, Rebrov turned to Instagram to explain and to say sorry.

He stressed that he knew about Berezutsky’s public opposition to the war, but claimed he did not realize the ex-CSKA Moscow defender had recently returned to Russia to work as a coach.

“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,” Rebrov 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 words underline how politically charged even casual sporting contact has become since the full-scale invasion. A friendly game in Spain, with a familiar face from European football, turned into a test of loyalty at home.

Rebrov's Background

Rebrov, a former Dynamo Kyiv and Tottenham forward, took over Ukraine’s national team in 2023. He left the post in the spring of 2026 after failing to guide the side to the World Cup. He now serves as a vice president of the Ukrainian Association of Football, a role that keeps him firmly in the public eye and raises the stakes around any perceived misstep.

Berezutsky's Role

Berezutsky, for his part, is a significant figure in Russian football history. A stalwart of CSKA Moscow and the Russian national team through the 2010s, he was among the few athletes from the country to speak out on February 24, 2022, posting “No to war” on social media. At that time, he was on the CSKA coaching staff under his brother, head coach Alexei Berezutsky.

His career then shifted abroad. After CSKA dismissed Alexei in the summer of 2022, Vasily moved to Spain. He resurfaced in Russian club football in December 2025, taking over as head coach of Ural. The stint was short-lived: he left at the end of the season after failing to win promotion from the First League to the Russian Premier League.

The padel video has now dragged both men back into the spotlight, but in very different contexts. For Berezutsky, it is another reminder of a complex position: a Russian coach with an antiwar statement on record, yet back working in his homeland’s game. For Rebrov, it is a sharp lesson in how every association, even on a holiday court in Marbella, will be judged through the prism of war, memory, and national responsibility.