Vadim Kostyuchenko: "Crimea is Ukraine" united the youth football teams of the country "

18.08.2018 16:20

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The fourth All-Ukrainian tournament "Crimea is Ukraine" will start the other day. Eight youth teams formed of football players born in 2003 from different regions of our country will take part in the competition.

Vadim Kostyuchenko, the first vice-president of the Football Federation of Ukraine, spoke about the tournament, which has already become traditional.

- Vadim Konstantinovich, how and when did the idea to start such competitions arise?

- The annexation of Crimea has led to the suspension of the development of professional football on the peninsula. FFU has decided to support the Crimean football community, so on the initiative of FFU President Andriy Pavelko in 2015 we launched the tournament "Crimea is Ukraine", which brought together youth football teams from different regions.

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- What conditions are created for the participants of the competition, who takes care of this issue?

- The National Association makes every effort to improve the conditions of the competition year after year. In addition, the football federation fully funds the tournament. All participants will be provided with proper living conditions, food and quality conditions for matches. The tournament will be held on the highest quality football fields of Kherson region, namely at the stadiums "Crystal" in Kherson and "Victoria" in the village of Chulakivka.

Given the extreme social and athletic value of the tournament, the FFU will continue to strive to improve the conditions of the tournament and to increase the number of participants in the competition.

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- Probably, in addition to sports, the tournament has a different meaning?

- Undoubtedly, by holding these competitions we want to emphasize once again the unity of the Ukrainian football community. Many of our compatriots were forced to leave their homes in the Crimea, and this tournament is also a show of support for us. And how many new acquaintances take place during these days is another, so to speak, communicative function of the event.

By the way, I would not downplay the importance and purely sports component. Coaches of Ukrainian youth teams are frequent guests at the tournament matches, so its participants have a great opportunity to express themselves in full voice.

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- Tell us briefly the history of the tournament.

- The first competitions took place in Kherson region in August 2015. Four teams took part in them. The winner was the team of CYSS-11 "Chornomorets" from Odessa, the second place was taken by VUFC "Torpedo" from Mykolayiv, the bronze was won by local Kherson football players from CYSS "Education", and the fourth place was won by another Kherson team - SDYUSHOR "Crystal".

The following year, the number of participants doubled. By the way, since 2016, the format remains the same - eight teams, divided into two quartets, hold group tournaments, and then the winner and prize-winners are determined in the playoffs.

So, in 2016, the first place was won by Lviv's Karpaty, the second by Dnipro from the city of the same name, and the third by Zaporizhia's Metalurh.

The third tournament brought us the first two-time winner. Young men from Odessa CYSS-11 "Chornomorets" repeated the success of their senior comrades two years ago, winning the grand prize. The second place went to the team SDYUSHOR "Torpedo" (Nikolaev), which lost to Odessa in the final only in a series of post-match penalties. The BRW-BIK team from Volodymyr-Volynskyi finished third.

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- What is the general geography of the participants?

- In total, for three years of the tournament, 400 players from 20 teams took part in it. They represented 10 regions of our country - from Lviv region to Donetsk. That is, we can say with confidence that the tournament fully justifies its classification - "all-Ukrainian".

- Who will compete for prizes this year?

- Eight teams will take part in the competition. In group "A" of the previous stage CYSS-11 "Chernomorets" (Odessa), UFC "Olympic" (Kharkov), VUFC "Torpedo" (Nikolaev) and SDYUSHOR "Crystal" (Kherson) compete. Azovstal Insurance Company (Mariupol), Dynamo (Kyiv), Dnipro (Dnipro) and BRW-BIK (Volodymyr-Volynskyi) joined the B quartet.

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- What are the dates of the competition?

- Matches in groups will take place on August 20, 21 and 22. On the 23rd there will be butt fights for 5th and 7th places between the teams that finish in groups on the third and fourth positions. August 24 is the day of the semifinals, the 26th is the match for the third place and the final. Chulakivka will host the semifinals, Kherson will play for bronze and gold. By the way, I invite everyone to attend the matches of the tournament. The decisive game will start at 12.00 at the Crystal Stadium.

I also want to wish all participants success in sports and a successful start to adult life. We will remember ourselves and remind others - Crimea was and remains Ukrainian. I believe that the time when we will hold competitions on Crimean soil is not far off.