Vice President of the UEFA Stadium and Match Safety Committee Andriy Taran spoke about adhering to regulations regarding the timely start of matches.

"Currently, the official broadcaster of the UPL transmits matches of the Ukrainian championship on cable networks and OTT platforms. While a delay in the start of matches by one or two minutes is not critical for OTT platforms, every second counts for cable networks. Broadcasters have strict time slots and a set schedule of broadcasts. It's also important to remember that UPL matches are shown abroad as well, where there are also stringent requirements regarding the timing of match starts with serious penalties in case of violations.

At pre-match meetings, delegates from the UAFA constantly emphasize the strict adherence to these requirements. The countdown to the start of the match is a universal document that each club develops independently, taking into account the specifics of the stadium and the time-related peculiarities of each process. Among the direct responsibilities of the delegate is the verification by clubs of processes mentioned in the countdown.

All activities conducted by teams before matches, such as coming out from dressing rooms onto the football field, performing the anthem, a minute of silence, photography, participation of representatives of law enforcement in symbolic kicks to the ball or other agreed and permitted actions before the match, must end clearly before the planned start time. These are the requirements for matches organized by UEFA. There, violations are counted not in minutes but in seconds. Every second delay is serious financial penalties for organizers.

Just as a delegate at international matches does, a UAFA delegate at UPL matches records all violations that they observe during the match. Then these violations are reviewed by the Disciplinary Committee of the UAFA. It determines which sanctions should be applied in one case or another.

A delay in starting the match for several minutes is a serious violation. The match delegate cannot fail to record it in their report, otherwise penalties will be imposed on them by our committee.

When planning pre-match activities, it's important to understand that kick-off, i.e., introducing the ball into play, is not performed, for example, by a serviceman participating in such an action. This is just one of many possible pre-match events. And the match starts when, after the referee's whistle, a player from one of the teams on the field kicks the ball.

We remind you that according to the decision of the Executive Committee of the UAFA during the period of martial law, funds received by the UAFA as mandatory club payments for decisions made by the Disciplinary and Appeals Committees are transferred to the United24 platform."