The Ukrainian Football Association did not allow the difficult year of 2022 to become the first year in history without football for Ukraine. This was stated by the first vice-president of UAF Oleg Protasov on his Facebook page, where he spoke about the national teams' achievements.
He noted that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, under the leadership of Andrey Pavelko, a Coordination Center of UAF and a number of regional humanitarian hubs have been created to engage in humanitarian and volunteer work.
'As a result, this has led to thousands of successfully evacuated children from the combat zone, assistance to thousands of families, soldiers, medics, and football veterans. And we continue to provide such help. This is being done by all patriots of Ukraine,' wrote Protasov.
In terms of key achievements for UAF on the international stage, Protasov highlighted the fact that the Association 'quickly and irrevocably achieved the complete isolation of Russian teams.'
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'Moreover, in close collaboration with many individuals from UPL, PFL, professional and amateur clubs, the military, law enforcement agencies, and local and central authorities, we did not allow this year to be the first in history without football. Many rolled their eyes when we planned the start of the 2022-2023 championship, but where are those critics now? Not a sound from them! Because the result speaks for itself!
I want to express special gratitude to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who supported our initiative and facilitated its implementation! Football continues to live and develop, and our clubs will earn their spots in the next season of European competitions based on merit, as it should be,' wrote Protasov.
He added that the youth national team of Ukraine, under the leadership of Ruslan Rotan, will defend our colors at Euro-2023. The men's and women's national beach football teams have secured spots at the 2023 World Beach Games. The U-17 and U-19 teams have successfully advanced to the elite round of qualification for the final part of the continental championship.
Protasov also mentioned the joint bid of Ukraine, Spain, and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup, which UEFA has already supported.
He separately commented on the orchestrated attack on the football association.
'All these achievements are being undermined by the authors of a commissioned, absolutely absurd, and unprecedented attack on UAF. And for what? What do their sponsors want to prove? That they can break all dissenters 'over their knee,' as the 'regionals' did under the shame of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych? Nothing will come of it! Ukraine has changed! All our victories and achievements in this extremely difficult year have made us stronger! And all this is thanks to our Armed Forces, without whom the implementation of all these projects and our joint achievements would have been impossible,' concluded Protasov.
Commenting on the results of 2022, the first vice-president of the Ukrainian Football Association Anatoliy Demyanenko said that the UAF team coped with the task of conducting the national football championship, understanding how important it is to unite and motivate people.