Speaking to ETV current affairs show "Ringvaade, Klavan said: "The first thing we agreed on at the Estonian Football Association (EJK) board meeting was that we would listen to Vassiljev while we wouldn't create the sort of situation that is currently prevalent in society whereby he would have been pressured into taking certain positions."

"That definitely was not the case. He explained his point of view to us, and based on that, we made a decision," Klavan went on.

Klavan bore the captain's armband for around 130 matches over nearly 20 years, 2003-2024, and was elected to the EJK board last week.

He currently plays for JK Tallinna Kalev.

Klavan said of Vassiljev, whom he referred to by the familiar "Kostja,": "He didn't say [in the Õhtuleht podcast] that he is not for Ukraine as such, he said he's not for anyone [in any conflict]."

"He also stated that he is a pacifist, so if he had to choose a side, the implication is that he is okay with the deaths of people on the opposing side. This is his personal stance. I personally asked Kostja the day before what would be the case if a similar situation came to our doorstep? His answer was that if his homeland, the Republic of Estonia, is attacked, he will be ready to defend it," Klavan went on.

Klavan noted that ultimately the final decision to give up the captaincy came from Vassiljev himself, who agreed to make this public via an EJK press release.

He is still eligible to play, Klavan noted, and therefore in theory could still be picked as captain in the future.

"Having personally spoken with him and also through the board meeting, where he emphasized twice that he is ready to fight for the Republic of Estonia, he qualifies as an Estonian in my eyes, and if he is Estonian, then he qualifies as a national team player," he said.

"On the other hand, we on the EJK board cannot set any boundaries on who are the Estonians that can play for the national team. Then we would be moving towards the mindset of that country, which we think does not do this," Klavan added.

"The principles we laid down at the board meeting are, for me anyway, whether he is Estonian and, in my view, he is an Estonian," Klavan stressed.

"That means he also qualifies as a national team player, ergo he is eligible to rank among those from whom the captain is chosen. The EJK board cannot interfere in that."

An additional dimension Klavan noted was that the national team manager, Thomas Häberli, a Swiss national, is not Estonian.

Häberli's say in who should therefore pick the captain of the team he manages thus came under criticism too, Klavan added, saying he had some sympathy with that criticism.

"I agree with that, but the wider question attached to this matter was whether Kostja is for us or against us. I obtained an answer to the question, and since he is Estonian, he qualifies under the same principles as everyone else [players]."

Klavan said he also believes that the captain of the football team has a greater public responsibility in society than the rest of the bench, though at the same time, there is leeway for a range of opinions on issues.

"Personally, as to whether I would have expected and hoped that Kostja would have been clearer in his statements, even if he ended up being misunderstood, then my answer to that is 'yes.' But at the end of the day, people are different," he summarized.

Speaking to evening paper Õhtuleht's "Kolmas poolaeg" podcast, Vassiljev was asked whether he supports Ukraine in the current war. His response: "If they win, then maybe peace will come. If Russia wins, then maybe peace will come. If both sides decide to talk and make peace, then maybe peace will arrive."

The context was controversy which broke at the start of 2023 over photos showing members of the national team socializing with Russian manager Valeri Karpin.

An attacking midfielder, Vassiljev made his senior team international debut in 2006 and since then has been capped 157 times, a joint record he shares with Martin Reim.

Ragnar Klavan played for FC Augsburg 2012-2016 and then Liverpool 2016-2018, when he was an unused sub during the 2018 Champions League final, which saw the Reds trounced 3:1 by Real Madrid.

He then went to Serie A side Cagliari Calcio, before returning home for the 2021-2022 season onward, initially playing for Paide Linnameeskond.

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