home All News open_in_new Full Article

‘It’s important we saved our sport’: Ukraine’s footballers play on in conflict’s shadow

Three years after Russia’s invasion, UPL teams dream of a seat at Uefa’s top table to avoid an uncertain financial futureLast Friday, Kolos Kovalivka opened the second half of this Ukrainian Premier League season with a home match against a struggling Chornomorets Odesa. The match was kicked off by Dmytro Orel, a soldier who has fought for his country on the frontlines in the war-ravaged east. Orel took in the appreciation of a sparse crowd and saw Kolos score within two minutes. The cheers ended there: a fightback from the visitors brought a 2-1 win and dragged Kolos towards the relegation fight.The previous day, an infinitely worse piece of news had broken. It was reported that Mykyta Kalin, a former Kolos youth-team player, had been killed during a combat mission in the Kharkiv region. Three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, life must continue where possible and football is back on its feet. But its proximity to unimaginable violence, grief and destruction has ...


today 3 h. ago attach_file Sport

attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Economics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Sport
attach_file Events
attach_file Sport
attach_file Politics
attach_file Economics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Economics
attach_file Sport
attach_file Politics
attach_file Events
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics
attach_file Politics


ID: 1979227163
Add Watch Country

arrow_drop_down