A stadium worth a million is being taken away from orphans: journalists called on the Ukrainian Football Federation and clubs to help stop the arbitrariness in Lviv

The News Center news agency and the Ukrainian Journalists’ Team officially appealed to the leadership of the Ukrainian Football Federation, the Ukrainian Premier League, and the owners of the leading football clubs in Ukraine with a call to stand as a united front against the elimination of sports infrastructure for evacuated orphans in Lviv.

A large-scale official appeal was sent to the President of the Ukrainian Football Federation Andriy Shevchenko, the Head of the Ukrainian Premier League Yevhen Dyky, as well as club owners, including Gennady Butkevych, Rinat Akhmetov, Igor Surkis, Andriy Zasukha, Volodymyr Matkivskyi, Hryhoriy Kozlovskyi and other presidents of top division teams.

Media professionals and the sports community demand that the Lviv City Council cancel the scandalous resolution of August 25, 2026, by which the land plot of the former Children’s Home No. 1 with an area of 0.8484 hectares at 2-A T. Komarintsya St. was transferred to the medical college.

“A stadium worth a million is for orphans, not for officials’ offices,” the journalists emphasize.

As noted in the appeal, on July 8, 2024, through the efforts of journalists and with the funds of caring football patrons, a modern inclusive children’s sports playground and a football field with artificial grass were opened on the territory of the institution, with a total cost of UAH 1,288,968.00. The field was built exclusively for the psychological rehabilitation and integration of orphans who suffered from the war.

However, due to a new decision by officials, the land and the built stadium are changing their intended purpose. The children themselves were forcibly relocated to another building at 117 Antonovycha Street, where two orphaned children died in one night under tragic circumstances.

“Football in Ukraine has always been a symbol of unity, social responsibility, and protection of the future generation. We have no right to silently watch as orphans are taken away from the stadium built by the Ukrainian football community,” Olga Vytak, Editor-in-Chief of the “News Center” IA, emphasizes in her address.

Journalists call on the leaders of Ukrainian football:

• Officially appeal on behalf of the UAF, UPL and clubs to the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovy and deputies of the Lviv Regional Council with a demand to cancel or revise the decision on the seizure of land.
• Demand that the football field be preserved in indefinite use exclusively for the needs of orphans.
• Express public solidarity on the teams’ information resources to create maximum public resonance.

“Only the joint and decisive voice of the football community of Ukraine will be able to stop the arbitrariness of officials and return children the right to sports and a future,” the Ukrainian Football Journalists’ Team summarizes.

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