Almost exactly six months to the day after the start of the war, the ball is rolling again in Ukraine. With the match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist Kharkiv, the highest Ukrainian football league resumed play on Tuesday afternoon (23 August 2022).
One day before Ukraine’s Independence Day, Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv drew 0-0 early Tuesday afternoon. The encounter took place in the empty Olympic Stadium in Kyiv.
Minute of silence before kick-off
The Russian war of aggression, which has put the country in a state of emergency since February 24, was also omnipresent at the start of the league. Before the kick-off of the first game at Kiev’s Olympiysky Stadium, both teams commemorated the victims of the war with a minute’s silence, and an injured war veteran was allowed to carry out the symbolic kick-off.
There was no cheering from the ranks, all games will take place without spectators for safety reasons until further notice. Strict safety rules also apply to the professionals: In the event of an air alarm, the game is immediately interrupted, and everyone involved then has to go to the shelter, which according to the concept must be in the immediate vicinity of the stadium. If it is not possible to restart the game, the result at the time of the alarm is included in the score.
Pawelko wants to create distraction with football
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is said to have personally campaigned for the resumption of the championship. “I spoke to Zelenskyj about the importance of distracting people with football”said Andriy Pavelko, President of the Ukrainian Football Union UAF.
The Premjer-Liha will start without the two teams Desna Tschernihiw and Mariupol, whose infrastructure was massively destroyed by the war. Most of the games are to be played in Kyiv and in western Ukrainian cities. Going abroad would be the wrong sign and “artificially” been, said Pavelko, the one from one “historic championship” spoke.
| home | Guest | result |
|---|---|---|
| Shakhtar Donetsk | Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | 0:0 |
| Zorya Luhansk | Vorskla Poltava | 3:1 |
| Chornomorets Odessa | Veres Rivne | 0:1 |
| Kolos Kovalivka | FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih | 1:0 |
| Rukh Lviv | Metalist Kharkiv | 08/24/22, 2 p.m |
| Inhulets Petrove | Dynamo Kyiv | still without appointment* |
| SK Dnipro-1 | FC Oleksandriya | still without appointment* |
| FC Minaj | FC Lviv | relocated |
*Dynamo Kyiv and SK Dnipro-1 are playing European games this week.