The General Secretary of UAF, Igor Gryshchenko, spoke about cooperation with UPL clubs, the first and second leagues.
Igor Gryshchenko (on the right)— Clubs are one of the key stakeholders for UAF. We want to emphasize that we are in daily close contact with UPL and PFL. Over the past year, UAF has indeed become equal in approach to all participating clubs in the competitions.
To prove this, we want to remind you that the presidents of UPL and PFL are part of the UAF executive committee. Also, representatives of UPL and PFL are present in the bodies of football justice — both in the control and disciplinary committee and in the appeals committee of UAF.
We have also initiated traditional meetings with UPL and PFL clubs — in particular, last year there was a meeting during the winter break with UPL clubs. And this year, PFL has already held a meeting with UPL — notably, with the participation of the head of the Referees Committee, Kateryna Monzul. A meeting with PFL clubs is also scheduled before the start of the spring part of the season.
One of our key achievements is the unification of regulatory documents. Remember last year, there was a case with the removal of "Dnipro-1" before the start of the season. Therefore, consultations were held with UPL and PFL, and a unified approach to amending the regulations was developed. Today, all gaps that may arise regarding the removal of a team from competitions during the season, in the off-season, and so on, have been eliminated.
Regarding cooperation with the Referees Committee. In particular, with the participation of Kateryna Monzul, a series of meetings with UPL clubs was held, which did not happen in previous years. At the last meeting, which took place at the House of Football, the issue of improving and refining the VAR system was discussed, as there were several cases last year — we publicized this — when there were certain technical difficulties with it.
In particular, we discussed with the clubs the need to ensure appropriate conditions for broadcasts regarding proper lighting during matches. We will also move together with the clubs in this direction; everyone is interested in this.
There is also an important nuance — it concerns the club licensing system, as in the process of financial activity transparency, in cooperation with the department, we researched the use of targeted funds from UEFA. There are funds that the Association received for the club licensing system.
Previously, clubs, despite this, paid an additional fee for the accreditation system, and this year, this accreditation fee was reduced. Starting next season, UAF will fully cover the costs for UPL and PFL club accreditation from UEFA funds.
And no less important is the last point — this is about the Dispute Resolution Chamber. This is an organ that aims to resolve conflict situations between professional clubs, coaches, and players. FIFA has slightly changed the rules and approaches to the functioning of this body.
I want to say that thanks to the work of our legal service, Ukraine has become one of the 7 countries in the world today, whose Dispute Resolution Chamber is recognized by FIFA, and our clubs, footballers, and coaches have the opportunity to defend their rights and interests within this organ at the UAF level — this is an important achievement," said Gryshchenko.
