Today in Kyiv, the opening matches of the Ukrainian Championship among women's teams of the highest league and the Ukrainian Championship among amateur teams for the season-2022/2023 took place.

Photos by Pavlo Kubanov

At the NTK named after V. Bannikov, players of FC "Dnipro-1" and FC "Krivbas" met, while at the "Locomotive" stadium in the premier match of the amateur tournament, FC "Locomotive" and FC "Athlete" faced off. The opening ceremony was attended by President of the Ukrainian Football Association, UEFA Executive Committee member Andriy Pavelko, first vice-presidents of UAF Anatoliy Demianenko, Oleh Protasov, Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko, Vadim Kostyuchenko, president of PFL and director of AAFU Oleksandr Kadchenko, and head coach of the Ukraine youth team Ruslan Rotan.

Photos by UAF press service

It has become a good tradition to raise a special flag on the stadium before significant matches and league championships taking place in different cities of our country. We remind that this banner was handed over to the football community on August 23, Ukraine's State Flag Day, by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Today, Andriy Pavelko passed it for a ceremonial raising to the captains of teams at "Locomotive" arena and later at NTB named after V. Bannikov.

Another tradition of competitions in Ukraine is the first kick-off by our soldiers-defenders. Before the match between amateur teams on "Locomotive", this mission was carried out by Colonel Yurii Kulyk.

Photos by UAF press service

Commenting on another stage of restoring football competitions in Ukraine, President of the UAF Andriy Pavelko noted: "Soldiers of the Armed Forces continue to liberate Ukrainian land from Russian filth, while the football community is restoring competitions in support of our heroes! We managed to restore all planned competitions. I am grateful to Head of State Volodymyr Zelensky for his support and initiative to hold tournaments in Ukraine! Thank you to our military, National Police, DSSN, Ministry of Youth and Sports, club leaders, and local authorities representatives for effective cooperation, thanks to which football has become a serious tool for uniting Ukrainians and supporting our soldiers who defend Ukraine on all fronts! Symbolically, the success of our football family coincides with the successes of the Armed Forces in the east and south. This is a sign that Ukraine will definitely win!"

Photos by UAF press service

The first match of the opening round of the Ukrainian Championship among amateur teams ended in favor of "Locomotive" with a score of 2:0. In the women's highest league game, players from "Krivbas" emerged victorious, defeating their opponents from "Dnipro-1" with a score of 7:0.