UEFA website tells about Alexander Cheferin's visit to Ukraine

07.09.2019 12:56

Photo by Volodymyr Rasner

The official website of the Union of European Football Associations has published material dedicated to the UEFA president's visit to Ukraine and his meetings with Ukrainian football executives and sports legends.

The President of the European Football Union, Alexander Cheferin, visited Ukraine and was convinced that with the help of UEFA, the country's football infrastructure is developing rapidly, reads the article.

On Thursday, UEFA President Alexander Cheferin visited Ukraine, where talks focused on the development of football in the country.

Photo by Volodymyr Rasner

Cheferin met with the leadership of the Ukrainian Football Association, as well as with famous Ukrainian athletes. The evolution of football infrastructure, as well as the development of mass and children's and youth football were discussed.

In addition, the participants talked about the construction of a training center for various national teams of Ukraine, which will be held with the help of the UEFA HatTrick program. Much attention has also been paid to the GROW program, which helps UEFA associations realize their potential on and off the football field.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

In Ukraine, Alexander Cheferin was accompanied by a delegation that included UAF President Andriy Pavelko, UAF Secretary General Yuriy Zapisotsky, Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Serhiy Bubka, national team coach Andriy Shevchenko and 1975 Golden Ball winner Oleh Blokhin.

"It is a great honor for me to meet Ukrainian football legends and Olympic legend Serhiy Bubka," Cheferin said.

During the UEFA President's visit, the possibility of holding major international football events in Ukraine in the coming years was also discussed. In 2012, Ukraine together with Poland successfully held the final stage of the Euro. The decisive match of the tournament with the participation of the national teams of Spain and Italy was hosted by Kyiv. In addition, in 2018, the finals of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League took place in the capital of Ukraine.

The development of youth football is the main priority of the UAF, and work in this direction has recently yielded fantastic results. In June, the Ukrainians won a historic title, winning the U-20 World Cup in Poland.

Photo by Volodymyr Rasner

"We have done serious work to develop the overall football infrastructure," said Andriy Pavelko. UEFA's support has helped Ukraine invest in infrastructure upgrades and the construction of youth, women's and grassroots facilities.

At the same time, pilot projects of the UEFA GROW program are being implemented in Ukraine. The main goal is to increase the number of people who play football, from 1% of the population to the average for UEFA associations of 3,4%.

UEFA will assess the impact of the pilot projects on a wide range of industries (health, education, economics, player development) to demonstrate the positive effects of a strong infrastructure that attracts the general public to football. "Ukraine is an active member of UEFA, which has made significant progress in the development of sports infrastructure and grassroots football," said Cheferin.

"Now it is necessary to intensify efforts to attract children and youth to football," Pavelko added. "I am grateful to UEFA for implementing the GROW program in our country."