Football for Life: How Sport Heals Ukraine During the War

A series of articles Introduction — Meeting war realities Players & Fans - Legacies and changes "Habit is second nature." For many Ukrainians, participation in the game of football, as players or fans, was and remains a pronounced habit, both individual and group, a kind of pleasant and emotioal addiction. During the war, many things changed and continue to change. Habits too. Soccer ball coming together so naturally with the needs and capabilities of an individual human body, (mostly male) and becomes the main "communicator" in the interaction of 22 people on the field and many people in the tribunes, that everything that happens on the stage and behind can definitely be called an incurable addiction and disease. Paradoxically, this is a disease that can heal and raise people to life, from the most desperate conditions.  The war in Ukraine changes many things in ordinary things. But, these forced changes in things help, in turn, adaptation in life. In particular, different generations of Ukrainians are used to giving their time and energy to such a universal pastime as football. This is about those who play football and those who cheer - in Ukraine and at a distance. A soccer ball helps children, veterans and volunteers to recover and live on. The special attitude of the spectators and fans is very useful here. These are close and not close people. These are fans of a special kind. They understand and feel that they must invest a special energy of support from the tribunes. Among such fans there are more women and children these days. You can try to ask one and the other and find out who actually needs this football game more, players or fans. It can be assumed that the importance of participating in the game for the benefit of loved ones is present in the consciousness and subconscious of both. With more women at the stadiums, coming together with their children, within a sort of half families they facilitate the developing a spirit of compassion and solidarity around. As to my observations and perception, the players tend not to harm each other physically. The activeness of fans on the tribunes is of different kind – the group competitions, word battles, encouragement, cheers don’t contain so much of confrontation and aggression as it happened beforehand.

Displaced children playing football On June 20, a children's football tournament dedicated to World Refugee Day was held in Kyiv on the fields of the Viktor Bannikov National Sports Complex. The competition was organized by the Ukrainian Football Association together with the Rokada Charitable Foundation and the UNHCR Office in Ukraine.

In Bilopillia, parents of children who play football grow together in energy and football competence with them as fans.