A ball sails off the school football field. The game pauses, and Dima, the captain of the school team, 14 years old, stops and listens carefully, “They are shelling again” turning towards the direction of the sound of mortar explosions and machine guns firing somewhere on the horizon. The ball is thrown back and play continues.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February last year, the lives of the people in the country drastically changed, including those of professional footballers. “We never stopped working instead we increased our activities,” says Roman Mozorov, General Manager of the All-Ukraine Association of Professional Football Players (AUAPFP). One of the AUAPFP’s main works was to evacuate players and their families from combating to a safer zone in Ukraine and to offer support to the foreign players who wanted to leave the country. Mozorov told “We have helped at least 250 Ukrainian and foreign players in close collaboration with FIFPRO member unions. We have also extended our help to the athletes collaborating with the Ukrainian trade union.”

Due to the war, hundreds of sports facilities have been damaged by enemy missiles. Many Ukrainian athletes have been killed and new losses are recorded every month.  "It hurts us to look at the destroyed sports halls, stadiums, and our houses. We appeal to the whole world to boycott the performances of Russian athletes and teams in any status and any competition as long as the war continues in Ukraine," Ukrainian athletes have stated. The athletes and other sports activities continue on the destroyed campus giving a message of their mental strength.

As the war nears its 14th month soccer games now take place without spectators. Players sometimes have to run off the field to hide in bomb shelters when sirens of air raids are heard. Football careers of many players have effected severely as many have ended up unemployed as 24 out of 72 professional teams have disappeared from Ukraine map due to the war. “We hope that some of these clubs will be able to participate in next year’s competition,” said Mozorov. Ukraine’s professional league has planned to start a new season on 23rd August despite the ongoing war. The return of Ukraine’s Premier League, announced recently by the Minister of Sports Vadym Gutzeit, reflects the country’s determination to defy Kremlin. By resuming the top-flight matches, the authorities hope to send some message of strength and provide the Ukrainian public with some welcome entertainment.