On May 10–11, the second All-Ukrainian amputee football tournament — the Spring Cup of the “League of the Mighty” took place at the Viktor Bannikov Training Complex in Kyiv. The tournament is part of the “League of the Mighty” project, a laureate of the prestigious UEFA FootbALL Awards 2025.
The competition brought together participants from different regions of Ukraine and became another important step in the development of inclusive football. The event once again demonstrated that sport has no limits, and that passion for the game, team support, and strength of spirit can overcome any obstacle.
For the first time, the tournament was held in two divisions — the Super League and the First League, allowing both experienced and newly formed teams to showcase their abilities. Eight teams from Kyiv, Lviv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lutsk competed on the field.
The awards ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine Ruslan Prykhodko, General Secretary of the Ukrainian Association of Football Ihor Hryshchenko, CEO of Carlsberg Ukraine Oleh Khaidakin, Marketing Director of Oschadbank Serhii Hrabchak, and Regional Marketing Director at Mastercard Oleksandra Hubar. They congratulated the winners, presented awards, and handed over gifts.
A special individual award, the “Lion of the Cup,” for the tournament’s top scorer was presented to Pokrova AMPplayer Dmytro Shchehelskyi.
This award for the best goal scorer of the tournament was established by the Ukrainian Association of Football in partnership with the “Lvivske” brand. The prize was personally presented by Oleh Khaidakin.
A unique feature of this year’s tournament was the introduction of video assistant refereeing, used for the first time in Europe in amputee football matches.
In addition, two new referees joined the officiating team as part of the amputee football refereeing training program launched by the Ukrainian Association of Football. They were Oleksandra Zolotukhina, a player from the Bureviy team, and Andrii Herasymchuk, a player from Shakhtar Stalevi.
During the tournament, representatives of new amputee football initiatives from Brovary, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Odesa, as well as a coach from Ternopil, joined an open training session.
The tournament was also attended by Ukrainian singer Fozzy, who supported the development of adaptive sports in Ukraine.
This once again confirms that the “League of the Mighty” is growing, and more and more people are discovering in sport not only a way to recover but also a new meaning in life.
The next stop is the Ukrainian Amputee Football Championship, and it is already clear that the future of inclusive sport in Ukraine is strong and inspiring.
The Ukrainian Association of Football expresses its gratitude to socially responsible businesses supporting the tournament: the official partners Mastercard & Oschadbank, as well as Adidas, the “Lvivske” brand, the Norwegian Football Federation, and the broadcaster of the final matches - MEGOGO.
