UEFA President hails Ukrainian FA on its 30th anniversary
Monday, December 13, 2021
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Aleksander Čeferin has congratulated the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) for three decades of achievement and progress.
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Mr Čeferin was one of the guests of honour at the UAF’s 30th anniversary festivities, held at the National Opera of Ukraine in the capital Kyiv. He was joined by sporting and political representatives from Ukraine and beyond.
“When you look back at these three decades of independence, you should be proud of what has been done,” Mr Čeferin said in his address at the gala event. “You have achieved what many would not have done in a hundred years.”
During his visit to Ukraine, Mr Čeferin also held discussions with the UAF President Andrii Pavelko and senior association officials, and met the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked UEFA for the European football body’s crucial help in nurturing the country’s footballing development.
Developing football in Ukraine
The Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU), now the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), was set up as a self-sufficient legal entity on 6 March 1991. Until then, Ukraine had been part of the USSR Football Federation, with its clubs contesting the Soviet championship; they withdraw after the nation gained independence in December 1991.
The association joined both FIFA and UEFA in 1992 and is looking back proudly at 30 years of dedication and care in fostering the game in Ukraine – while also looking forward to the future with considerable optimism.
Club and national team achievements
“Ukrainian clubs play an important role at European level,” said Aleksander Čeferin, “with regular participation in UEFA’s most prestigious competitions.” One notable Ukrainian club success came in 2009, when Shakhtar Donetsk were the last winners of the UEFA Cup.
The national team reached the last eight of the FIFA World Cup on its debut in 2006 and has qualified outright for the last two UEFA EURO final tournaments, exiting at the quarter-final stage this summer. Ukraine still remain in the running to reach the 2022 World Cup, having qualified for the play-offs next spring. At youth level, Ukraine are the reigning FIFA U-20 World Cup holders, having won the title in 2019.
“No major tournament can be imagined without your yellow jersey,” the UEFA President reflected, “with many world-class players coming out from your ranks”. All-time Ukrainian greats include Andriy Shevchenko, Oleh Blokhin and Igor Belanov, winners of the Ballon d’Or in 2004, 1975 and 1986 respectively.
Major event hosts
Ukraine has also excelled as hosts of major international football events. The country successfully co-hosted UEFA EURO 2012 with Poland, with the NSC Olimpiyskiy stadium in Kyiv staging the final between Spain and Italy. The same venue was the setting for the 2018 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
These events proved to be extremely important for the promotion and development of the game in Ukraine.
Clear UAF vision
The Ukrainian Association of Football has clear objectives to maintain footballing growth and aims to have one million people engaged with the sport by 2024. Strategic work has centred on infrastructure development, educational and management processes, promotion of the game in different parts of Ukraine, and support for children's and women's football.
“I am particularly proud that you recognised the social responsibility aspect of our sport,” Mr Čeferin told the association. “The number of children enjoying our beautiful game in Ukraine is rising each year.”
“That shows the vision, the strength, and the devotion of the association to the true values of football.”
“We are a strong team, we are an extremely ambitious national association in Europe and in the world,” said Andrii Pavelko at the gala event. “It is important that we do everything together to attract millions of boys and girls to the game and a healthy lifestyle, so that they can play their favourite game, and we might see future new Ballon d’Or holders growing in our country.”
Vital UEFA help
Funding from UEFA’s HatTrick programme has helped the UAF improve national footballing infrastructures. By focusing on building full-size and mini artificial pitches, the association has ensured that more communities throughout Ukraine, and especially children and youngsters, have access to high-quality, year-round facilities.
“You are allowing millions of children to chase their dreams on a green field," said Mr Čeferin. "I thank you for that on behalf of UEFA and myself personally, and I wish you many more years of success.”
The UAF was successful at the recent 2021 UEFA Grow Awards, winning the stakeholder support initiative category, and Ukraine recently declared its official interest in bidding to host the UEFA European Women’s Championship final tournament in 2025. In addition, Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul is considered as one of the world’s top female match officials.
UEFA President receives Ukrainian honour
At their meeting, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky presented Aleksander Čeferin with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, IV degree – the highest honour that Ukraine bestows upon people from other countries.
"This is a well-deserved appreciation of many years of fruitful cooperation between UEFA and the Ukrainian football community," said Andrii Pavelko, who was also present at the meeting.
Talks focussed, among other things, on the pending construction of a national training base for Ukraine’s national teams – a state-of-the-art complex which will cater for men's and women's national teams, as well as children's and youth teams.
Making sport accessible
Mr Zelensky said that the country’s authorities were making sure that sports are attractive and accessible to every citizen. “We are doing and will do everything to make sports attractive to Ukrainians,” he explained.
“It is important for us that in every yard, in every town, people have the opportunity to play sports for free and at any time. Programmes are aimed at spreading an active lifestyle and creating a modern sports infrastructure.”