November 1-2 at the MCK Dnipro stadium in Cherkasy, the third round of the Ukrainian amputee football championship was held. This championship was initiated by the Ukrainian Football Association as part of a social project called "League of Strong." It is the first tournament of this scale in Ukraine.

The tournament, which started in August and will continue until the end of the year, involves 10 teams from different regions of Ukraine with over 250 participants. The majority of players are war veterans who have returned to sports after rehabilitation.

Participants: MCK Dnipro (Cherkasy), Pokrova AMP (Lviv), Shakhhtar Staliev (Donetsk), Burivyj (Kyiv region), Khrestosy (Lutsk), Vinnytsia Oblast team, Metalist 1925 Neflami (Kharkiv), Titans (Zhytomyr), FC Bartka (Ivano-Frankivsk), Vikings (Ternopil).

It is worth noting that two amputee football teams in the championship, Shakhhtar Staliev and Metalist 1925 Neflami, are supported by Ukrainian Premier League clubs—Shakhtar (Donetsk) and Metalist 1925 (Kharkiv), respectively.

Further Progress of the Championship

The championship, which began in August, will continue until December and will take place in Kyiv, Kyiv region, Lviv, Cherkasy, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The champion of the tournament will represent Ukraine at the UEFA European Amputee Football Federation (EAFF) Champions League 2026.

Next Rounds:

— Fourth round — Ivano-Frankivsk, November 22-23;

— Fifth round (final) — Kyiv, December 13-14.

Alongside the third round of the championship on November 2, the Autumn Cup "League of Strong" will take place. Four teams that have not previously participated in professional amputee football competitions will compete:

— Sich (Zaporizhzhia);

— Dnipro Honor (Dnipro);

— Veres Mriya (Rivne);

— Kryvyi Rih AMP (Kryvyi Rih).

The two teams that reach the final will join the first league of the championship at the fourth and fifth stages.

The Ukrainian Amputee Football Championship was founded by the UAF, with its implementation supported by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, and the Agency for Mass Sport of Ukraine.

Official partners of the Ukrainian Amputee Football Championship include Mastercard and Oschadbank. Project partners also include match broadcaster MEGOGO, Ukrzaliznytsia, Lvivske, adidas, and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.

Live broadcasts are available on the media service MEGOGO and the UAF YouTube channel.

*Amputee football is a sport for people with amputations or congenital limb deficiencies. The game follows these main rules. Seven players are on the field (six outfield and one goalkeeper). Outfield players must have an amputation or lower limb deficiency, while the goalkeeper must have an upper limb deficiency. Outfield players move around using crutches without prosthetics, while goalkeepers play without crutches. A match consists of two halves of 25 minutes each with a 10-minute halftime break. The pitch is smaller than a standard football field (60x40 m). Adapted rules of football are used, focusing on player safety. There are women's, men's, and mixed teams. It is a dynamic and exciting sport that promotes inclusion and inspires through its spirit of struggle and teamwork.

Over 100,000 people with amputated limbs live in Ukraine. For many of them, amputee football opens the way to physical and psychological recovery, returning to an active life, and joining a community of like-minded individuals.

*"League of Strong" is a social project by the Ukrainian Football Association that helps people with amputations or limb deficiencies return to an active life and find inspiration through sports. The project covers a wide range of tasks: recruiting new players, creating teams in cities, organizing training sessions, preparing professionals (coaches and managers), as well as equipping teams with full-fledged sporting equipment. UAF also develops the competitive component by holding cups and initiating championships. Official partners of "League of Strong" include Mastercard and Oschadbank.

In a year, amputee football centers were established in 18 cities across Ukraine: Boryspil, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Lutsk, Lviv, Odesa, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, and Chernihiv. The project encouraged the creation of 20 teams that are dynamically developing and contributing to the popularization of amputee football throughout Ukraine. In total, over 500 players have been involved who actively train, develop their skills, and participate in competitions.

In January 2025, the first tournament, Winter Cup "League of Strong," took place with five teams participating. In March, the "League of Strong" team played an historic match against Red Flamingos in Belgium, winning 1-0. And already in May, the Spring Cup "League of Strong" was held, involving eight teams.

Less than a year after its inception, "League of Strong" won the prestigious UEFA FootbALL Awards 2025 in the category of "National Association."

*UAF Foundation is a charitable foundation established by the Ukrainian Football Association that implements social projects and fundraising aimed at developing football in Ukraine. The main areas of activity include adaptive football, mass children's football, women's football, social support, and restoring sports infrastructure. The foundation also initiates projects related to addressing war consequences, using the unifying power of football for positive changes in society.