Ukraine’s men’s and women’s teams have returned to competition this month and the clubs are being challenged to do so in August
“It’s a very surreal situation.” These are the words of Lluís Cortés, Ukrainian women’s football coach. It’s still hard to process what has happened since that fateful February 24, when football became a residue and the name of this country resonated all over the planet. The images of the tragedy that have unfolded since then appear on everyone’s retinas, and even more so in those who have come close to the conflict.
It is not easy to look back in such cruel situations. “The first days you don’t think much about work, just help, make everything you can to work together available to the federation and the players and staff,” recalls Cortés, who had barely started the Russian invasion at the beginning of the invasion. three months in office. Words that the Catalan coach, along with his family, has fully fulfilled during this time.
«In my house we even organize the collection of medicines, food, clothing and all kinds of materials. We filled two trailers of 13 and a half meters and my family helped me a lot with that too,” recalls Cortés, who even came to welcome the assistant coach from Ukraine to his farm in Balaguer (Lleida). “I wish people didn’t need war or someone close to them suffering from a serious illness would open their eyes to help others,” he also says. And it is that helping is the word that has most marked him during these months.
Now, more than 100 days later, football in the country with its capital Kiev is slowly getting going. June 1, 2022 will be remembered as the date when Ukraine wore short clothes again. It was the men’s team against Scotland in the play-off for Qatar 2022. 23 days later, Cortés’ pupils did the same against the same rival.
The return to Rzeszów (Poland), just 80 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, could not have come at a more completed date, just four months after the start of the Russian actions. “It’s a very strange situation because we have the joy of being back with the national team, but also that sadness and uncertainty that the players have friends, family, loved ones up front and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them.” .” them next morning,” says the Spanish coach. His pupils could not put the finishing touches with a victory, but back to green was already green.
With the national teams back in action, the return of the various local club competitions is the next goal, but many questions remain. When can the competition return? What will the return be like? Will there be fans in the stands? These are just some of those issues, albeit with one certainty: the federation led by Andriy Pavelko is working on its return with August as its target.
“I spoke to our president, Volodymyr Zelenski, about how important football is as a distraction,” Pavelko said in an interview with the Associated Press weeks ago. “We will start at all levels in August. The decision was made with the President of Ukraine,” the federal official emphasized in the same speech.
The return would mark the start of a new season as the previous one ended without a champion and considering the classification until the break due to the Russian invasion to designate the representatives in Europe. All this in a context in which Ukraine is step by step seeking a return to relative normality.
In any case, the upcoming season looks very complicated in terms of the presence of foreign players, as FIFA has extended until June 30, 2023, their right to suspend their contracts with clubs from Russia and Ukraine due to the war conflict. With a war still open, it seems complicated that returning to their home destinations is one of the plans of those who were able to leave the country months ago.
There are still more ambiguities to be clarified, including where the championship would take place. A precedent could provide the solution. Taking the example of Shakhtar Donestsk and their transfer since 2014 due to the Donbass War, the possibility of playing the championship in the area of Lviv, in the west of the country and very close to Poland, is being explored. Ukrainian football is unlikely to return to what it was any time soon, but its return would be a battle won.
Source: La Verdad
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