Cardiff, June 5: Ukraine plans to resume competitive football in the country in August despite being under attack by Russia after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave approval.
Andriy Pavelko, the president of Ukraine’s football federation, revealed details to The Associated Press about his talks with Zelenskyy and the heads of FIFA and UEFA about finding a safe way of playing men’s and women’s matches on home soil.
Ukraine was forced to abandon its leagues in February when Russia began an invasion that, according to Zelenskyy, has led to “at least tens of thousands” of Ukrainian civilians dying and many cities and towns being bombed into rubble.
“I spoke with our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about how important football is to distract,” Pavelko said in an interview with the AP, surrounded by Ukraine jerseys and a tactics board in the team meeting room in Cardiff.
“From the children to the old people, everyone is focused on the war. Every day they receive information about deaths, about the impact of the war.
“We spoke about how football has a very big power to help people think about the future because now people, of course, are not in a good mindset. They’re in the worst mood. We spoke about how it would be possible that football could help us to think about the future.” That is a future with players being able to take to the field again in Ukraine to provide uplifting sports moments of joy.
“We took the decision with the president to resume the Ukrainian championship in August,” Pavelko said through a translator.
“In Ukraine we will play on every level. So the Premier League, and the first and second professional divisions, and women’s championship.
“At all levels we will start in August. The decision was taken with the president of Ukraine.”
It is not yet clear which parts of the country will be used for matches. “We will speak with our military board and the government to discuss how to organize it safely,” he added. (AP)
