UAF official statement on the situation with Dnipro-1

The Ukrainian Football Association, signed by UAF General Secretary Ihor Hryshchenko, sent a letter to the President of the Premier League, Yevhen Dykyi, regarding the situation with SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro).

"Dear Yevhen Sergiyovych!

In response to your letter dated 16.07.2024 № 438 regarding the situation with SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) in the 2024/2025 season, we would like to inform you of the following.

In accordance with the Agreement between the UAF and the UPL on the organization and conduct of All-Ukrainian football competitions among the teams of UPL clubs, the UAF has delegated to the UPL the authority to organize and conduct football competitions among the teams of UPL clubs, in particular, the Ukrainian Championship. The rights and responsibilities delegated to the UPL include the direct organization, conduct and operational management of competitions, as well as the application (admission) of teams to participate in UPL competitions.

It is clear from your letter that SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) did not comply with the provisions of the UPL Competition Regulations in terms of filling out the application documentation for participation in the competition and paying part of the annual application fee for the 2024/2025 season, approved by the UPL General Meeting, within the time limits established by the UPL Directorate. Your letter also states that the club is deprived of the right to register new players and does not respond to letters from the UPL with inquiries about the situation at the club.

According to your letter, after analyzing this information, the clubs initiated the submission of the issue to the UAF for consideration regarding the appropriate procedural actions to revoke the certificate of admission to the UPL club competitions for the 2024/2025 season from SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro).

In view of this, we inform you of the following.

SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro), as an applicant for a UAF certificate and a UEFA license in accordance with the procedure and the main process of certification (licensing), has provided the UAF with all the necessary documentation to establish the fact of compliance with the minimum requirements for legal, sports, infrastructure, personnel, administrative, financial criteria, as well as criteria for football social responsibility, including additional information for the decision-making body to make a thorough decision in the context of the club's compliance with the criteria of the regulations.

It is worth noting that at the time of the decision, SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) declared the existence of overdue accounts payable to foreign football players/clubs as a result of contractual (transfer) obligations, which arose due to the inability to obtain from the other parties to transfer agreements all the necessary documents to make foreign currency payments in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine under martial law. The accuracy of such information was confirmed by the audit firm in the independent auditor's report on the annual financial statements for 2023.

Also, taking into account the requirements of club monitoring, SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) systematically informed UEFA of the current status of the club's obligations and difficulties with international payments - currency restrictions established by law under martial law.

Additionally, by letter dated 03.06.2024, SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) announced its ability to continue future activities related to the team's participation in club football competitions in the 2024/2025 season, and also reported that it was not in a state of bankruptcy and had neither the intention nor the need to liquidate, terminate its statutory activities, including the absence of significant economic events, the nature of which could have a negative impact on the club's solvency in the context of continuous operations, and other information about the club's ability to fulfill its obligations under the current legislation.

As of today, the UAF has not received any requests from SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) or UEFA regarding any event that may have occurred after the submission of certification/licensing documentation and which could constitute a significant change from the previously provided information or a condition of great economic importance. We also inform you that the fact that there is a ban on the registration of new football players is not a violation, and therefore is not considered a possible ground for refusing to issue a certificate or revoking it. In addition, we would like to inform you that as of today, according to the UAF Information and Analytical Database, SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) has registered a sufficient number of players to participate in the competition.

Thus, taking into account the information available to the UAF and received in your letter, we inform you that there are currently no grounds for considering the revocation of the certificate of admission of SC Dnipro-1 (Dnipro) to the UPL club competitions of the 2024/2025 season.

Instead, we draw your attention to the need to fulfill the obligations transferred to the UPL under the aforementioned Agreement on the organization and conduct of the All-Ukrainian football competitions among the teams of UPL clubs.

In accordance with Part 3 of Article 10 of the Charter of the OPFKU Premier League, a participant may be excluded from the UPL in case of significant violations of the statutory and regulatory norms and decisions of the UPL, UAF, UEFA and FIFA, including in case of improper fulfillment of duties or financial obligations (including contributions and other payments in the manner and amounts established by the general meeting), or in case of obstruction by their actions or inaction of the functioning of the UPL and its participants.

In view of the above, we would like to inform you that the issue of application (admission) of teams to participate in competitions and renewal of membership in the UPL competitions falls within the exclusive competence of the UPL, therefore we ask you to make further decisions on this issue within the competence of the UPL, as provided for by the UPL Charter, the Agreement on the organization and conduct of the All-Ukrainian football competitions among the teams of UPL clubs and the rules of the competition," the letter reads.