The head coach of the Ukrainian women's national team, Spanish Luis Cortés, has addressed a letter to the UAF in which he expressed his wish to end his work with the team upon completion of his contract.

"It is time to announce that on August 31, 2023, I have decided to terminate my contract with the Ukrainian Football Association and conclude my work as head coach of the Ukrainian women's national team. In November 2021, I accepted an invitation from UAF to become the trainer of the national team and tried to build an ambitious squad.

However, just three months later, on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Nevertheless, I tried to work as best as possible and learned a lot from people who chose not to give up. From players who, despite the horrific situation in their country, found a way to fight for their nation through football and showed the world that Ukraine is still alive.

I am grateful to the technical staff of the team, who became my family. I thank everyone for their quality approach to the matter and willingness to work throughout this time.

I want to thank the president of UAF and the executive committee for entrusting me with leading this project. Also, I am grateful to all soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who made it possible for us to work. Thank you to everyone who supported us during this time. I leave with pain that I could not play home matches in Ukraine, but I am convinced that soon there will be an opportunity for spectators to visit stadiums and support, especially the women's national team. And my heart will be there.

First of all, we hope that the situation in Ukraine improves as quickly as possible for the benefit of the Ukrainian people!" — specifically mentioned in Luis Cortés' letter addressed to UAF.

The Ukrainian Football Association expresses sincere gratitude to Luis Cortés for his fruitful work at the helm of the national women's team of Ukraine. Also, we thank the Spanish specialist for organizing humanitarian aid received by our football family since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion and support for Ukraine on an international stage in general. We wish Luis success in his further coaching career!

We remind that under the leadership of Luis Cortés, the Ukrainian women's national team secured third place in their group at the World Cup qualifying tournament, ahead of Hungary and the Faroe Islands, but behind Scotland and Spain.

Today, on August 9, a meeting of the Women's Football Committee of UAF took place using electronic communication means. According to the results of the meeting, the committee recommended that the Executive Committee of UAF approve Volodymyr Pyatenko for the position of head coach of the Ukrainian women's national team.

Biographical Note

Volodymyr Pyatenko

Born on September 9, 1974.

As a player, he played for Ukrainian clubs: "Okean" (Feodosiya), "Tavriya" (Simferopol), "Shakhtar" (Donetsk), "Metalist" (Kharkiv), "Metallurg" (Donetsk), "Vorskla" (Poltava), "Niva" (Vinnytsia).

He played 8 matches for the Ukrainian youth national team (2 goals).

As a coach, he led Ukrainian clubs: "Metallurg" (Donetsk), "Obolon-Brovary" (Kyiv).

Work with women's teams: "Dynamo" (Kyiv) — 2021–2023, "Zhitlobud-1" (Kharkiv) — from July 2023.