Paulo Fonseca in Portugal
Paulo Fonseca has agreed to a deal to become the new manager of Sporting, returning to Portuguese football more than a decade after leaving Sporting de Braga, Tvguia reported.
The 53-year-old coach succeeds Rui Borges at the helm of the Alvalade club, according to Tvguia and Nova Gente reports.
This new appointment brings Fonseca back to national competition following stints abroad that included Shakhtar Donetsk, AS Roma, AC Milan, and Lyon. His wife, Kateryna Ostroushko, will accompany him to Portugal alongside their young children, Martim and Christian, as reported by jn.pt and O Jogo.
Meeting in Ukraine
The couple met in 2017 when Kateryna was 26 and working as the head of communications for Rinat Akhmetov, the millionaire president of Shakhtar Donetsk, according to jn.pt and 24Horas.pt. Kateryna had previously studied philology at V. N. Karazin National University in Kharkiv and presented television programs, jn.pt reported. They married in 2018, as detailed by O Jogo.
Before that relationship, Fonseca was married to Sandra, with whom he shares two older children, Diogo and Beatriz, according to Nova Gente and 24Horas.pt. Geographical distance led to the end of that first marriage in 2017, 24Horas.pt reported.
Kateryna told the Italian newspaper Il Tempo in 2020: Quando conheci o Paulo, em 2017, liderava o gabinete de comunicação do Rinat Akhmetov há dois anos. Adorava o meu trabalho, mas é importante estarmos abertos à mudança. Cheguei também a apresentar programas de televisão
, as cited by jn.pt and O Jogo.
The Couple Fled Kiev Following the Russian Invasion
Following Fonseca’s time at Roma, the couple returned to Kiev with plans to settle there permanently after his career ended, according to jn.pt and 24Horas.pt.
The Russian invasion in February 2022 disrupted those plans, forcing the family to flee amid bombardments, as reported by Tvguia and 24Horas.pt. After sheltering in a hotel with Brazilian players from Shakhtar, they undertook a roughly 30-hour journey across Moldova and Romania, according to jn.pt and 24Horas.pt.
They arrived in Lisbon on an evacuation flight carrying over 30 passengers on March 1, 2022, jn.pt reported. Upon arrival, Fonseca stated: É um misto de emoções. Por um lado, consegui trazer a minha família, mas, por outro, eles deixaram lá praticamente tudo
, according to jn.pt and O Jogo.
In the following days, the coach helped evacuate nearly all of Kateryna’s family, including her parents, and rented a house on the Margem Sul to shelter them, jn.pt reported.
The Couple Supports Social Causes and Defends Fonseca
The couple has frequently combined public appearances with social causes, such as a November 2024 Serie A campaign against violence toward women where both wore red facial marks while Fonseca managed AC Milan, jn.pt reported. Kateryna also stepped in publicly to defend her husband last year after the French League’s Disciplinary Commission handed him a nine-month suspension during his tenure at Lyon, according to jn.pt, O Jogo, and Tvguia.
Following that suspension, Kateryna wrote on Instagram: Nove meses por uns segundos de gritaria? Uma decisão absurda, absolutamente escandalosa e sem precedentes. Quer-se Justiça, por favor, não uma execução política
, as quoted by Tvguia. Now, the family faces a new chapter in Portugal as Fonseca assumes leadership of Sporting, Nova Gente reported.
Questions About Paulo Fonseca's Family and Career
When did Paulo Fonseca leave Sporting de Braga?
Paulo Fonseca left Sporting de Braga more than a decade prior to taking the Sporting job, according to Tvguia.
How many children do Paulo Fonseca and Kateryna have?
The couple has two sons together, Martim and Christian, while Fonseca also has two older children, Diogo and Beatriz, from a previous marriage, according to Nova Gente and 24Horas.pt.
How did the family escape Ukraine in 2022?
After sheltering in a hotel in Kiev, the family traveled for roughly 30 hours through Moldova and Romania before boarding an evacuation flight to Lisbon that carried over 30 passengers on March 1, 2022, jn.pt and 24Horas.pt reported.