A memorandum of cooperation was signed at the House of Football between the Ukrainian Association of Football and the charitable fund "Life Saving Center". The main goal of the partnership is to support military personnel undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, as well as family members of Ukrainian ultras who died defending our country's independence.

On behalf of UAF, the document was signed by First Vice President Vadim Kostyuchenko, while on behalf of the BF "Life Saving Center" – the organization’s director Vyacheslav Zaporozhets. The meeting also featured Rostislav Prysyupa, a marine infantryman who participated in the defense of Mariupol and sustained serious injuries before being captured and released through an exchange in June 2022. Today, Rostislav works at UAF as a manager for work with disabled supporters. In November, the soldier was invited by former national team coach Andriy Shevchenko to attend the Ukraine vs Italy match in the Euro-2024 qualifying round held in Leverkusen, Germany.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Rostislav is gradually recovering from his serious injury and has already tried to participate in football games with other military personnel who are currently undergoing rehabilitation at UAF's team for players with disabilities. The boys are trained by Dmitro Rzhondkovskyi, who also attended the signing ceremony along with another player, Konstantin, who as part of Ukraine’s national team in October participated in the first tournament "League of Nations" organized by UEFA among amputees. According to the results of the tournament, our team successfully qualified for Euro-2024 which will take place in France.

The signed memorandum provides for cooperation between two organizations, including creating appropriate conditions for military personnel undergoing rehabilitation to engage in football; supporting military and their families by involving them in football events; social-psychological adaptation of disabled military personnel who have received prosthetics through the recovery provided by football; developing and popularizing football among amputee soldiers; ensuring barrier-free access to stadiums during football matches, etc.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Commenting on the start of cooperation, Vadim Kostyuchenko said that next year UAF plans to help in setting up four football pitches at four rehabilitation centers for military personnel (in Kyiv region, Lviv region and Odesa region). "We want to create all conditions for the rehabilitation of our soldiers through football. We hope that among them soon there will be new recruits for our team preparing for Euro participation. As they will be trained by specialists who have undergone appropriate training at UAF. Also we plan to organize an internal championship among military personnel – representatives of these rehabilitation centers. In the future, such competitions will become nationwide. We are very grateful to our partners who do everything so that our soldiers injured in combat receive necessary prosthetics and can engage in sports and live a full life. From our side, we will help find donors who can support this important project," emphasized the First Vice President of UAF.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In addition, Vadim Kostyuchenko noted the development of another important direction – forming and supporting a fan movement among soldiers. "Unfortunately, not everyone can or simply wants to play football after injuries sustained on the front line. But most love to watch football and support our teams. UAF is ready to support the creation of a fan movement for soldiers and help resolve all issues related to barrier-free access to stadiums and football events in general. In this context, it's worth noting the relevant directive by the Cabinet of Ministers regarding partial return of supporters to stands during matches of the Ukrainian championship. I believe that for many of our military personnel undergoing rehabilitation, attending games will contribute to faster recovery and distraction from war horrors. Also, the possibility of visiting matches will be open primarily for relatives, including children, of fallen soldiers," said Kostyuchenko.

About the role of his organization in the project, the director of BF "Life Saving Center" Vyacheslav Zaporozhets said: "We have been involved in prosthetics from the first month of full-scale invasion and understand that direct prosthetics make up only about 30% of successful rehabilitation for soldiers. Another half is rehabilitation, and probably the most important part is social adaptation. When boys engage in something, such as sports or football, it inspires them and helps adapt to new conditions. And football fits best because it's a team game. We can gather two or three teams and start training and learning. We cooperate with rehabilitation centers and know where we can involve soldiers who need this program the most. Glad that Rostislav Prysyupa agreed to become an ambassador for this initiative."

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

According to the Mariupol defender and recent UAF employee Rostislav Prysyupa, many soldiers may not believe they can participate in the project due to various physical limitations caused by their injuries. But in fact, it's not true, as his personal example proves. "For the first time I participated in training a few days ago. Although when offered, I didn't take it seriously and thought someone was proposing this because they don't know my physical capabilities. But when I came, stood on goal, tried – I liked it. Sure that if we bring boys to training just to watch, over time we will be able to involve more participants. Appropriate informational support would only help with this. Convinced that other guys will like it too," noted Rostislav.