At the end of last week, the UAF approved the base day for the start of the new UPL season. According to the plan-calendar, the competition should start on August 23, on the eve of the Independence Day of Ukraine.
Also, the members of the working group visited the Ukrainian stadiums, which will host the matches of the new UPL season. We inspected arenas in Lviv, Uzhgorod and Ternopil.
Despite the return of football to Ukrainian stadiums, fans will be able to watch matches only on broadcasts, because all matches will be held in empty stands.
How did you decide to restore the championship
When the first shock passed, in Ukraine they thought about what to do next with football. The war hit the wallets of the owners of all teams. Professional leagues in Ukraine have always been closely tied exclusively to the budgets of the oligarchs, and after large-scale destruction of stadiums and industry, a halt in grain exports and a financial collapse, club presidents began to gradually give up spending on football.
Due to the destruction of home arenas, Desna from Chernihiv and Mariupol immediately disappeared. The second and third leagues were left without 20-30% of the clubs.
The championships of the 2021-22 season were immediately stopped, and the decision to hold new ones came at the end of spring, when the Russian army was expelled from Kyiv and northern Ukraine. At the same time, the issue of the resumption of football was decided at the highest political level.
Some of the club owners (who were planning to play in European competitions) demanded that the championship be held in Poland or Turkey, others offered to hold part of the matches at home and abroad.
Everyone was judged by President Volodymyr Zelensky. He insisted on holding the championship exclusively in Ukraine because of patriotic motives and hinted that he would not allow the mass departure of football players abroad – men of military age.
For the start of the UPL, they chose a symbolic date – August 24, that is, the Independence Day of Ukraine. All the same 16 teams appeared in it, as before the war. Minai from Uzhgorod, which was supposed to be relegated to the lower division, received a lucky ticket and remained in the UPL, while Desna and Mariupol were replaced by Metallist and Kryvbas, clubs revived over the past few years through the efforts, respectively, billionaire Alexander Yaroslavsky and the government and business of Krivoy Rog.
Where to play?
Making a fundamental decision to play and actually restoring it in a warring country are two different things.
Russian troops destroyed or damaged up to 100 sports facilities. The home stadium of Desna in Chernihiv was hit. From the blast wave went to “Metalist” in Kharkov. There were several breaks at the country base of this club, at stadiums near Kyiv – in Gostomel and Borodyanka.
Back in March, the Russians were bombed at the arena of FC Mariupol. As a result of a missile attack on Kremenchuk, the infrastructure of FC Kremen suffered damage. In Nikolaev, a rocket flew onto the lawn and paths of the arena of the local club. All sports facilities were destroyed in Bakhmut and Volnovakha.
The authorities allowed football to be restored at 10 stadiums in conditionally safe regions – Kyiv and the region, Lviv and Transcarpathia.
How to play under the bombs
As during the flood, Ukraine has developed a safety protocol for matches. It has not yet been officially announced, but the details have become known to the KGC project.
A rule was added to the protocol that the government will help to reserve all those involved in the championship from military service – these people are not subject to conscription into the army. Matches are played at stadiums, 500 meters from which there is a bomb shelter. At the same time, no more than 280 people are allowed to play. During an air raid match, the game is stopped and everyone present is sent to cover.
If the duration of the air raid warning exceeds 60 minutes, the match delegate, together with the referee, may decide to play out on another day. If the alarm has passed quickly, the players get up to 10 minutes to warm up and continue the game.
Source: Racurs
