At the invitation of the Latvian Football Federation, Andriy Shevchenko, President of the Ukrainian Football Association, is on an official visit to this friendly Baltic country.
In addition to signing a memorandum of cooperation, the head of our football found time to meet with young Ukrainians who are now internally displaced in Latvia.
The emotional meeting took place at the Lidl Arena sports complex in Riga.
"The direction of this memorandum is cooperation and assistance. We will send our children to Latvia for rehabilitation. The children will be gathered from the regions where the fighting is ongoing - Kharkiv, Sumy and Donetsk. We have signed such memorandums in many countries, and this is a very important step to give our children at least some opportunity to switch from constant terrorist attacks and anxiety to a normal life.
Today, football in Ukraine is a very important element of our people's life. Through football we can give children the opportunity to play sports. Our military are also fans and play football themselves. I think that in the life of the whole world, football is what unites countries. That is why not only political bridges are important, but also the sports bridges we are building now," Shevchenko said.
It should be added that today the UAF President will support the Ukrainian youth national team from the stand of the LNK Sporta Parks arena in Riga, which will meet the Serbian team as part of the Euro 2025 (U-21) qualifiers (the game starts at 19:00 Kyiv time).