New Delhi: The Ukraine-Russia War has been a heated topic of debate for the past year. The war is still ongoing, with Ukrainians getting valuable support from different associations around the world, one being UEFA. Ukraine are participating in the UEFA Euro 2024, and they faced Romania in a Group E fixture.
Before the match commenced, The Ukrainian Football Federation revealed an installation in Munich featuring a stadium stand that was destroyed in the war back home. This exhibit aimed to bring attention to the ongoing conflict as the team was preparing for their first match at the European Championship on June 17, 2024.
The Kharkiv’s Sonyachny stadium, destroyed by Russian troops in May 2022, is now part of an interactive installation that highlights the impact of the two-year war on Ukraine’s sports infrastructure. The exhibit underscores that 500 sports facilities in Ukraine have suffered from Russian bombings and missile strikes.
A stand of Kharkiv’s Sonyachny Stadium was brought to the center of Munich. It was originally built by Ukraine for EURO 2012, but was destroyed by Russian troops in May 2022.
The UAF transported the stand across Europe to testify to the world that even football suffers under war pic.twitter.com/mkUhsMvgE4
— Ukrainian Association of Football (@uafukraine) June 17, 2024
We play for the people who defend our lives: Shevchenko
Former Ukraine coach and current President of the Ukrainian Football Federation, Andriy Shevchenko, said: “Today, we’re going to start our games.”
He further added, “One team on the field, but a million soldiers who stay and defend Ukraine. We are all together. We play today for the country. We play today for the people who defend our lives and our country.”
The stadium, which served as the training base for the Netherlands team during Euro 2012, was also used by Ukraine in preparation for the last European Championship. During that tournament, Ukraine reached the quarterfinals, marking its most successful campaign to date. Shevchenko said that learning about the stadium’s ruins felt like finding your home getting destroyed.
❤️🩹On the eve of the Ukraine-Romania match in Munich, a part of the stand from Kharkiv’s Sonyachnyi Stadium, which was destroyed by the russians in May 2022, was installed – Suspilne
A fragment of the destroyed stand was recreated by volunteers on Wittelsbacherplatz. pic.twitter.com/wZLTqT6nwK
— Toronto Television / Телебачення Торонто (@tvtoront) June 17, 2024
The stand and installation will tour various German cities, with the next stop being Düsseldorf. This coincides with Ukraine’s next Group E match against Slovakia on Friday.
“It’s very important that we show during the war that in the country, we continue our lives,” the football icon, Shevchenko, added.
He stated how sports play a big role in Ukrainian society by stating, “Sport is a big part of our society. It’s a very powerful tool but in good hands. The participation of Ukrainian team today it’s very important message for the rest of the world that we continue to live and we’re going to fight, but not only fight we’re going to do our normal life and try to be part of European society and the world society who share the same values of their freedom and democracy with us.”
In a Munich square, parts of a stand from Kharkiv’s Sonyachny Stadium, originally built for Euro 2012, which Ukraine co-hosted, were displayed ahead of the team’s opener against Romania on Monday. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
