Oleh Protsasov, First Vice President of the Ukrainian Football Association (UFA), commented for the UFA press service on the start of the second football season under wartime conditions.

— Oleh Valeriyovych, why is it so important to restore football during a state of war?

— Football during the war is necessary for Ukraine! And this is not just about teams, players, or fans. Based on last year's championship, the first in history to take place under full-scale war conditions, we were convinced that football unites Ukrainians. Victories of our national team boost patriotic spirit, while matches demonstrate the world's resilience and victorious spirit of our state. Football has also become a significant tool for social activities aimed at supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and families affected by Russian aggression.

Restoring the national championship during an active phase of military operations, which are ongoing now, is an extremely complex task. Last year, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky tasked UFA President Andriy Pavelko with this mission. And it was accomplished!

Preparing for the championship required the UFA to be swift, precise, and most importantly — united. I want to say that today we are more united than ever before because we realize our main task is to preserve Ukrainian football.

Everyone knows that the UFA was attacked by Russia's interests for effectively working to remove representatives of the Russian federation from the international arena. There have been attempts to destabilize the association's activities both externally and internally. We faced unprecedented challenges! Legal pressure, targeted media attacks… At the end of last year, we also encountered attempts to interfere with the work of UFA executive bodies through pressure on our regional divisions. But, as I already said, we are doing, have done, and will continue to do everything in our power despite all challenges to fulfill the task set by President Zelensky for restoring football competitions.

— Is there a chance that fans will be allowed back into stadiums under current circumstances?

— As they say in such cases, we are working on this. The position of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is known — we were denied permission for fans to enter the stands. But, repeating myself, we continue to work on this issue. Ahead of the start of the current championship, we held an expanded meeting with representatives of law enforcement agencies. We propose increasing the number of spectators at matches. Currently, it's about 280 people; we propose significantly raising this quota. We see real ways to implement this initiative while strictly adhering to all security nuances.

— How would you evaluate the organization level of matches at the start of the new season?

— Our experience from last year is very helpful. Currently, competitions in the Ukrainian Premier League (UPL), U-19 championship, first division of the Professional Football League (PFL), and the Cup of Ukraine have started. We do not have any significant observations. Yes, air raid sirens did not allow some matches to finish on time. But here, unfortunately, we cannot influence anything. We accept this as a reality.

Despite the war, we are constantly working to improve the organizational and sporting level of competitions. In particular, in the UPL, we plan to implement the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system for all matches this season. For this purpose, additional training was conducted before the season for those who work with the system. In the opening round of the UPL, VAR worked in three matches, but the number of such games will be increased in the upcoming rounds.

I have already mentioned that we have resumed the Cup of Ukraine tournament. We also expect the start of competitions in the second division of PFL, women's championship, amateur championships, and youth leagues. Despite the war, UFA has not stopped its work for a single day and continues to develop football. Indeed, in all competitions, we focus not only on the sporting component but also on the safety of match participants and those involved at the stadium. But this is our reality. And we do not tire of thanking the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their bravery and heroism and the opportunity to play football on Ukrainian territory!