KYIV — Ukraine on Tuesday launched its new football
season despite Russia’s ongoing invasion, in an apparent attempt to give a
morale boost to the war-ravaged nation.
اضافة اعلان
In the first match of the Ukrainian Premier League,
Shakhtar Donetsk drew 0–0 with Metalist 1925 from Kharkiv at the Olympiysky
stadium in Kyiv.
In an emotional pre-match ceremony, the players of
both teams and the referees entered the pitch wrapped in Ukrainian flags and
unfurled a banner that read “We are of the same courage”.
The Shakhtar players wore T-shirts with the
inscription “Donetsk. Ukraine will win” over their playing jerseys, while the
players of the Kharkiv club wore similar T-shirts with the inscription
“Kharkiv. Ukraine will win.”
In addition, Metalist 1925 played the match wearing
T-shirts with the emblem of the Ukraine’s Armed Forces instead of the
traditional sponsor logo.
After a minute of silence in memory of the
Ukrainians who died as a result of the Russian invasion, the first symbolic
kick of the ball was made by a Ukrainian soldier.
Matches will be held without spectators due to
security reasons.
But passers-by outside the stadium in Kyiv voiced
their support.
Maksym Scherbyna, a fan of Dynamo Kyiv, said the
resumption of football was “very important”.
“We show that war can’t stop us,” the 35-year-old
said.
Fellow fan Denys Lazarenko, 41, said: “Our country
needs football very much. It unites people very much.”
The war has had a devastating effect on football
clubs, particularly smaller and less financially secure ones.
Two Premier League teams, FC Mariupol and Desna
Chernigiv, have been allowed to skip the season with a right to return in the
next one.
The strategic Azov Sea port of Mariupol has been
devastated by constant Russian shelling and Desna’s stadium in northern city of
Chernigiv was hit by a Russian rocket.
The decision to begin the season reportedly came
from President Volodymyr Zelensky himself in order to give the country a morale
boost.
Many clubs will play their home games not in their
own cities, but largely in the safer western or central regions.
Ukrainian football clubs decided in April to end the
previous season early after it was suspended following
Russia’s invasion which
began on February 24.
Shakhtar Donetsk led Dynamo Kyiv by two points at the top of
the table when the season was interrupted, but the league decided not to award
the title.
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