November 22-23 at the sports complex «Riviera 1908» in Ivano-Frankivsk, the fourth round of the Ukrainian amputee football championship was held. The championship was initiated by the Ukrainian Football Association as part of a social project called «League of Strong Ones.» This 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 12 teams from various regions of Ukraine with a total number of participants exceeding 300 people. Most players are war veterans who return to sports after rehabilitation.

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

Based on the results of three previous rounds, teams were divided into two leagues, and the new stage of competition began with a clean slate — each participant had zero points.

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The champion of the championship, which will conclude with a final fifth round in Kyiv on December 13-14, will represent Ukraine at the League of Champions of the European Association of Football for Amputees (EAFF) in 2026.

The Ukrainian amputee football championship was founded by UAF and is being implemented with the support of 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 of matches are available on the media service MEGOGO and 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 — upper limb. Outfield players move around the pitch using crutches without prosthetics, while goalkeepers play without crutches. The game consists of two halves of 25 minutes each with a 10-minute break in between. The playing area is smaller than a standard football field (60x40 m). Adapted rules of football are used with an emphasis on player safety. There are women's, men's and mixed teams. This is a dynamic and exciting sport that promotes inclusion and inspires with its spirit of struggle and teamwork.

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

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

Over the year, amputee football centers were established in 18 cities across Ukraine: Boryspil, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhya, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv, Odesa, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi and Cherkasy. The project has spurred the creation of 20 teams that are developing dynamically, contributing to the popularization of amputee football throughout Ukraine. In total, over 500 players have been involved in these teams, actively training, improving their skills, and participating in competitions.

In January 2025, the first tournament, the Winter Cup «League of Strong Ones», was held with five team participants. In March, the «League of Strong Ones» national team played an historic match against the Red Flamingos in Belgium and won 1-0. In May, the Spring Cup «League of Strong Ones» took place, involving eight teams. And already in November, the Autumn Cup «League of Strong Ones» was held with four participating teams.

Less than a year after its establishment, «League of Strong Ones» became a laureate of 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 directions of the foundation's activities include adaptive football, mass children's football, women's football, social support, and restoring sports infrastructure. The foundation also initiates projects related to overcoming war consequences, using the unifying power of football for positive changes in society.