Many teams have to play far from their real home stadium.
Many Ukrainian football shrines have taken a hit from the bombings. PDO
On February 22, the Ukrainian football leagues will start as usual. Two days later, everything stopped.
Six months have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now the Ukrainians plan to restart their country’s premier football league, even as the war continues.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi issued an order that the new football season starts on August 23, which is also the day of the Ukrainian flag.
– Starting football again in the country is a big step. It is a sign that Ukraine can and will win. It is a sign that our community is confident, Andriy Pavelko The Football Association of Ukraine told for the BBC.
Bomb shelters and air alarms in stadiums
After the Russian attack, many countries have evacuated to the safest cities, such as Lviv in the west of the country.
Goalkeeper of Kharkiv’s main league team Denys Sydorenko, says that they have been training for the season near the Slovakian border, about 1,300 kilometers from their hometown. Kharkov has been the target of severe fighting at the beginning of the war. It has become a ghost town.
– My heart hurts when I think about Kharkiv. The missile hit our training ground. Now we have nothing left to play for, Sydorenko said in an interview with the BBC.
According to Pavelko, the football association is currently having discussions with the Ministry of Defense about how it would be safe to organize the games. Spectators are not going to be allowed into the games. Stadiums must have air raid sirens and bomb shelters.
– It’s good that all leagues are played, because it raises everyone’s spirit, Pavelko sums up.
Yoga in bunkers
Anna Myronchuk, who plays for Dynamo Kyiv’s women’s team, is excited about the opportunity to play soccer again. It takes your mind off the war, but only for a moment.
– It is a great joy for every player to go to the field to play. After that, we go back to our cell phones and see what has happened.
The team’s football routine did not end when the war broke out. Myronchuk’s teammates had to live in a bunker for two weeks.
– No one knew what was going to happen to football, but our club manager didn’t abandon us, because he paid our wages. We had remote lessons where we gave tasks to the players. For example, we practiced yoga, Dynamo’s coach Volodymyr Petrenko said.
The story continues after the picture.
Denys Sydorenko plays for Kharkiv’s main league team, whose training ground was hit by a missile. PDO
Some of the Ukrainian teams have played international matches outside the borders of Ukraine. Shakhtar Donetsk has already advanced to the first group stage of the Champions League. Dynamo has a chance to join the same caste. SC Dnipro-1 is fighting for entry to the Europa League.
On the contrary, some teams don’t come to play football for a while. Desna Chernihiv’s home stadium was badly damaged in northern Ukraine near the border with Belarus. The city was besieged by the Russians in March.
Oleksandr Drambayev used to play for FC Mariupol, but now the city is in Russian hands after three months of fighting.
– FC Mariupol no longer exists, Drambajev told the British media.
He was abroad when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Just 15 minutes before his flight home, he was told about the attack. Now the defender is playing on loan at a Belgian club.
– We had a beautiful field with fresh grass. I brought my Mariupol jersey here. I like it here, Drambajev said of his former club.
– It is really brave to start football again in Ukraine. I’m happy, but at the same time I’m also really worried about it.
In May, the football stadium in Kharkiv was hit by a deep crater from cannon fire. ZUMAPRESS / MVPHOTOS