Next Wednesday, May 14, at the central city stadium “Polesie” in Zhytomyr, the final match of the Ukrainian Cup of the current season will take place, where Kyiv’s “Dynamo” will play against Donetsk’s “Shakhtar”. The match will start at 18:30.
The choice of a weekday (and thus the time of the match) raises a huge number of questions and casts great doubt on the reasonableness of this choice at least from the standpoint of common sense, considering all the current realities.
Some might say: when to hold it, on which specific weekend? One moment. Quite recently, in the interests of the national team of Ukraine, the UPL calendar was quite easily “moved”. Matches of individual teams in two rounds of the championship were held a couple of days earlier, and everything was wonderful. And this has happened before: similar has occurred previously. And without any discontent from the clubs.
So what is the problem with doing the same in the context of holding the final of the Ukrainian Cup? Yes, it’s not the national team, but it is still one of the main matches of the entire football season in the country! Besides, there was no need to shift the entire rounds, it was only necessary to “move” the matches of the 27th and 28th rounds involving “Dynamo” and “Shakhtar”. And thus easily free up a weekend day for the final—May 10 or 11.
Well, or another option. If none of the organizers could figure out that by making minimal changes to the calendar of the Ukrainian championship, the final of the Ukrainian Cup could easily be scheduled on a weekend, why couldn’t this match be set for the nearest weekend after the final round of the Ukrainian championship? I am sure that in a situation where it is about a country at war, with minimal argumentation, UEFA and FIFA could agree to a slight shift in the deadlines for the conclusion of the domestic season and the holding of the final of the Ukrainian Cup on May 31. Moreover, this summer there is neither a European Championship nor a World Cup.
And in this situation one very simple question arises: why, despite everything, was the decision made to hold the final of the Ukrainian Cup on a weekday? So that there would be no choice for the start time of the match, which now, regardless of everything, should be set later, since it is a working day? No, well it is clear that 18:30 in ordinary life is certainly not late, but when curfew starts at 12 midnight, such a start time is indeed late! And I am not even mentioning the potential air alerts during the final.
In short, there were at least two options for solving the problem of scheduling the final of the Ukrainian Cup on a weekend. But no: we will still schedule it for Wednesday! And at 18:30!
But now a simple calculation, taking into account the award ceremony, gives a clear understanding: at least the “Dynamo” fans, who will come to nearby Zhytomyr (a distance of 120−150 km depending on the location in the capital) for the final, will most likely not be able to return in time before the curfew (24:00). Even if there is no extra time, even if there are no air alerts, the chances of making it will be very low. And if everything goes beyond the main time or there is at least one air alert, those chances will not exist at all. Fans will simply be stuck in Zhytomyr until morning. This is not Lviv, where you can take a night train, spend the entire curfew time in it, and then get home—here it’s over 100 kilometers, a completely different logistics: you either make it back by 24:00, or you’re stuck all night.
As for journalists who will arrive in Zhytomyr from Kyiv, I won’t even mention them: they still have to work after the match and after the award ceremony, so the idea of returning to the capital before the curfew is even out of the question.
Yes, it is wonderful and great—to please the residents of Zhytomyr with a football holiday. Yes, it is wonderful and great—to please football lovers who can return from work by 18:30 to watch the broadcast. But am I confusing something, or shouldn’t the interests of the fans of the teams participating in the final, who want to be present in the stands, be prioritized first? And if I’m not confusing anything in this sense, then why were the priorities of these fans set lower than those of the residents of Zhytomyr and lower than those of the fans who will watch the final on TV?
And finally, another nuance. If air alerts, the likelihood of which increases in the evening, do not allow the final of the Ukrainian Cup to be completed on Wednesday, May 14, the match will be played the next day. In this situation, I won’t even talk about fans or journalists, but I will just ask how such a "situation" will affect the training process of “Dynamo” and “Shakhtar”, for whom the final rounds of the Ukrainian championship are of crucial tournament significance, and thus any disruption in preparation and recovery can be detrimental?
Why, at least taking this into account, couldn’t the final of the Ukrainian Cup be scheduled on a weekend, automatically allowing the match to start either at 16:00 or 13:00, thus significantly increasing the likelihood of holding it without extra time the next day and thereby ensuring the fans coming to the game from Kyiv the chance to return home calmly before the curfew? It’s a simple solution! An obvious one! Lying on the surface! Why?
A large number of questions and not a single answer...
Alexander POPOV
