Solomon-Otabor: How I convinced my parents to let me play in Ukraine

New Al Orooba FC of the United Arab Emirates forward, Viv Solomon-Otabor has lifted the lid more on his time with Rukh Lviv in the war-torn Ukraine. The England-born player of Nigerian descent was on the roster of the Rukh Lviv between 2022 and 2023 when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. In January 2022, Solomon-Otabor […]

New Al Orooba FC of the United Arab Emirates forward, Viv Solomon-Otabor has lifted the lid more on his time with Rukh Lviv in the war-torn Ukraine.

The England-born player of Nigerian descent was on the roster of the Rukh Lviv between 2022 and 2023 when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.

In January 2022, Solomon-Otabor signed for Rukh Lviv and after joining his teammates at a training camp in Turkey, he had been in Ukraine for only one training session when the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to the postponement of the football season.

Travelling with two team-mates, Solomon-Otabor drove to the Polish border and managed to cross after a 10-hour wait, before heading to Kraków to fly to London.

He however made 42 appearances for the club, scoring three goals in the process before moving to China afterwards.

In a new revelation about his stay in Ukraine, the 29-year-old said it took more than words to convince his parents to allow him to ply his trade in Ukraine.

“At first everything was fine because there was no war but when I went back during the war my mother was never keen and comfortable. I reassured her and my father that within one or two years, I would have done well enough to then make a good transfer. So, she understood the sacrifice even though it was hard at times for her.”

After playing consistently for two seasons, he secured a move to China, joining CZ Mighty Lions.

According to him, that move convinced his parents that he had made one of the best decisions of his career.

“So after my first season and teams were making enquiries they knew it was the right thing because I was in a safe environment with all the fundamentals to improve physically and I had a very good manager with experience who already tried to sign me back in 2019 so there was a trust factor there.”

Born in London to parents originally from Edo State, Solomon-Otabor is the nephew of Nigerian international footballer Thompson Oliha, and his father, Victor-Banks Otabor, played domestically for Bendel Insurance, NNPC and Eagle Oil.

The 29-year-old was handed a Super Eagles invitation by former coach Gernot Rohr in 2019 as a late replacement for Samuel Kalu.

Recently as well, he was invited to Nigeria’s encounter against Libya but couldn’t make the trip.