The new season of the Ukrainian professional soccer league started on Tuesday with Shakhtar Donetsk taking on Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, in a 0-0 draw in Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium.
The game was the first professional soccer match to be held in Ukraine since the invasion of Russia in February. The decision to resume play is seen as a defiant sign the people of Ukraine are ready to start putting their lives back together.
“This is work ... to show the world that life in Ukraine does not stop but continues,” Shakhtar coach Igor Jovicevic said before the opening game.
The two teams from the war-torn east region of Ukraine, Metalist 1925 Kharkiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, played out the scoreless draw in an empty 65,000 seat stadium as fans were not allowed to attend due to safety concerns.
“Football is something that can move the emotions of the whole country and the people who fight for all of us. So football is essential for us individually, as a team, not only for Shakhtar but also for the entire Ukrainian Premier League. It helps to continue living and shows the world that football goes on,” continued Jovicevic.
In Ukraine, martial law still remains in place. Large public gatherings have been prohibited in the lead up to Wednesday’s Independence Day due to fears of an imminent Russian attack.
“Our goal is to use the games to remind the whole world that nothing is over and of the atrocities that are happening here in Ukraine.”
The players from both teams entered the pitch donning the Ukrainian national flag national and observed a moment of silence in a ceremony for those who have lost their lives in the conflict.
Players from both teams raised the Ukrainian flag which used to belong to Danylo Myhal.
At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Myhal, who was a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, ran onto the field during an Olympic match between East Germany and the Soviet Union. He wore a traditional embroidered shirt and performed a folk dance before being detained.
“[Myhal] always dreamed of bringing his flag to Ukraine and today it’s finally happened,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a televised address before kickoff. “It’s being raised today at the opening of the Ukrainian soccer championship”
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