Ukraine: 2022-23 season to begin behind closed doors on Tuesday 23/08/2022 despite the war

Shakhtar Donetsk - FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, will be the first match in the 2022-23 Ukrainian top flight, scheduled (behind closed doors like all the other matches) at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv (UKR) on Tuesday 23/08/2022 (kick-off at 13:00 local time, noon CET), six months after the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Russia on 24/02/2022 and on the eve of Ukrainian National Day which commemorates the country's independence from Russia on 24/08/1991. The season will go ahead despite rumours of a major Russian offensive.

The 16 teams of the "Vbet League" will play their first 15 matches until 26/11/2022. The second half of the season is scheduled from 04/03 to 03/06/2023 (calendar available to download).

A meeting dedicated to the preparation of the start of the UPL (Ukrainian Premier League), PFL (Professional Football League of Ukraine) and women's competitions was held with Andrii Pavelko, president of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) and a member of the UEFA executive committee, at the House of Football in Kyiv (UKR), on 19/08/2022.

The participants of this meeting were…