First League football club withdraws from competition due to mobilisation
12 June 2024 16:23
Due to the inability to reserve players from mobilisation, Druzhba football club (Myrivka, Kyiv region) has decided not to start the next season in the First League, despite qualifying for the league at the end of the last season. This was announced by the club’s director Ihor Degtyarenko in an interview with Tribuna.com.
“The law on mobilisation. From July, people will be stopped on the streets and so on. We can’t provide security for our people, we don’t have the leverage to book them. Unfortunately, the UAF has done nothing for the players. We simply cannot fight this. Somewhere a bus will be stopped on the way to a training session or a game and the whole team will be issued with summonses. There is nowhere to go, this is war,”
– degtyarenko explained the reason for the team’s withdrawal.
Druzhba’s management fears that key players could be drafted into the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces at any time.
“This will happen in other clubs as well, it’s a hundred per cent certain when July comes. You understand that not all players want to go to the military commissariats. And we can’t force them, even though everyone is subject to mobilisation. What am I going to do about it? We can’t give them a postponement of mobilisation, we don’t have such levers. We cannot be booked. That’s the only reason we’re filming,”
– added the club director.
“Druzhba has asked the Professional Football League to reserve the club’s place in the Second League for at least one year in the hope that the war will end during this time. In the meantime, the club’s children’s academy will continue to operate, and the professional team will be disbanded, allowing the players to find new clubs.
“This is a very painful decision for us, because we have just won the Second League and moved up to the First. But this is the situation in the country,”
– added Degtyarenko.
It is worth noting that most clubs in the Ukrainian Premier League are currently able to get bookings. For example, Kryvbas and Dnipro-1 have been granted the status of “critical importance for the economy”, which is why they can book players.
Criteria for companies that are critical to the economy
Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 76 sets out the criteria by which an enterprise is recognised as critical to the functioning of the economy and the livelihoods of the population during a special period:
- the total amount of taxes paid exceeds the equivalent of EUR 1.5 million;
- the amount of foreign currency revenues exceeds the equivalent of EUR 32 million;
- the company is of strategic importance for the economy and security of the state according to the list;
- the enterprise is important for a sector of the national economy or for meeting the needs of the territorial community;
- no arrears in the payment of a single contribution to the obligatory state social insurance;
- the average salary of insured employees at the enterprise for the last calendar quarter is not less than the average salary in the region for the fourth quarter of 2021;
- the company is a resident of Diia City.
An enterprise is recognised as critical if it meets at least two criteria. Such enterprises can book 50% of their employees, or more “in case of a justified need”.
