Today in the Hero City of Bucha, at the "Yuvileinyi" stadium, the opening match of the second league championship of the PFL took place between FC "Niva" (Buzova) and SC "Chayka" (Petrovsko-Borchagivka).

The first game of the inaugural round was attended by President of the Ukrainian Football Association, UEFA Executive Committee member Andriy Pavelko, as well as First Vice-Presidents of UFA Anatoliy Demianenko and Vadim Kostyuchenko.

Photo by Daria Rushchina

Before the start of the match, Andriy Pavelko presented a special Ukrainian flag to the captains of both teams — the banner that Canadian of Ukrainian descent Danilo Migal carried during the semifinal of the football tournament at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in support of Ukrainians playing for the USSR national team and calling for the restoration of Ukraine's independence. On State Flag Day, Head of State Volodymyr Zelensky presented this flag to the football community, and now it is traveling through cities across our country where matches of the national championship are taking place. Today, the banner was handed over in liberated Bucha, one of the first cities to face Russian invaders in February and freed at the beginning of April.

Photo by Daria Rushchina

Also, before the start of the match, UFA leaders presented new balls to local youth sports school students and wished them success in their training and honing of football skills.

The first kick-off was traditionally made by a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The match itself ended with a 3-0 victory for FC "Niva".