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Ukraine: Football’s coming back

August 17, 2022 at 5:08 am Leave a comment

Ukraine’s football leagues were stopped when Russia’s invasion begann in February 2022, but now half a year into the war, football is going to resume in the country. It is a sign of bravery and confidence that Ukraine will win.

Now, six months into the war, Ukraine is preparing to resume its domestic football competitions – despite the constant danger the ongoing conflict brings.

The BBC has a lengthy article on the topic: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62503419

During Second World War football was also played most of the time: Rapid Vienna won the German Championship with a famous 4:3 (0:2) win over Schalke 04 in Berlin in 1941 (goals: Schors, Binder 3). The final was played in front of 95,000 fans in the Olympic Stadium.

One year earlier West Ham Utd won the 1940 Football League War Cup with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers (goal: Sam Small). The final was played in London at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 42.000 despite fears that there would be an attack from the Luftwaffe.

The new campaign of Ukrainian football leagues will go ahead from 23 August – Ukraine’s Day of the National Flag – following an order from president Volodymyr Zelensky. It is seen as “a sign to the world that Ukraine can and will win. It’s also a sign to society that we are confident,” says Andriy Pavelko, head of the Ukrainian Football Association.

Dinamo Kiev has already played in the UEFA Champions League qualification earlier in the summer and defeated Austrian club Sturm Graz 3-1 on aggregate. The Ukrainian club played their home tie in Poland. They now play Benfica in the play-offs on Wednesday evening, the game again taking place in Łódź (Poland).

Russian clubs have been disqualified by the UEFA and are not allowed to compete in the 2022/23 European cups.

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