Spirit of Soccer: Life-saving lessons through football in Ukraine
The UEFA Foundation’s partnership with Spirit of Soccer provides thousands of young Ukrainians with essential safety education and moments of refuge from the realities of war.
No footballer, coach or referee should have to think about the dangers posed by landmines, unexploded bombs or drones, but for people in Ukraine, knowing how to recognise and avoid them can be a matter of life and death.
As much as 30% of the country is contaminated with these weapons, one of the many devastating consequences of the war. Hundreds of children have been killed or injured by these explosive remnants, with teenagers, young men and women particularly at risk. These weapons leave a deadly legacy and a threat that could remain for hundreds of years.
Spirit of Soccer – which uses football to educate and support vulnerable people in conflict zones around the world – is helping young people in Ukraine understand these dangers, delivering essential risk education through its Safe Soccer Development Programme.
Supported by €150,000 from the UEFA Foundation for Children, Spirit of Soccer teaches grassroots football coaches to deliver life-saving explosive ordnance risk education on the pitch. Using expertly designed drills, coaches teach young players how to safely recognise and avoid the threat and dangers of unexploded weapons and drones.
Safety through sport
The programme was launched in May 2022 in partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Football and the Amateur Football Association of Ukraine, backed by $1.5m from the US State Department.
Safe Soccer coaches have since delivered more than 2,100 sessions at football clubs and schools across the regions of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv, reaching more than 41,000 young footballers. By combining safety education with football, the sessions engage participants in a familiar and enjoyable environment while sharing potentially life-saving knowledge.
The programme has also distributed more than 2,000 footballs and 41,000 Safe Soccer notebooks and posters. Regular tournaments and monthly festivals provide further opportunities to play and learn, with the programme’s impact extending into the wider community. An estimated 150,000 additional people have been reached through the programme’s multimedia campaigns, outreach materials and knowledge shared by Safe Soccer participants.
The war may take our electricity, water, heating and even our sleep, but no weapons in the world can take the joy of football away."
- Kateryna, Safe Soccer coach
A place of refuge
For Safe Soccer coach Kateryna, the chance to play football offers a precious sense of refuge amid the uncertainty of war – and something the conflict cannot take away.
“The only place where I feel safe and happy is a football pitch,” she said. “Thoughts of being killed by drones and missiles, not waking up in the morning or losing loved ones, constantly chase us. When I step on the pitch to coach or play with my son, happiness and pure joy fill my heart.
“The war may take our electricity, water, heating and even our sleep, but no weapons in the world can take the joy of football away. Spirit of Soccer is all about bringing this joy and safety.”
UEFA Foundation support in Ukraine
When war broke out in the heart of Europe, the UEFA Foundation for Children immediately set up an emergency fund of €100,000 to help Ukrainian children and refugees. These funds were granted to the Football Association of Moldova, which worked with local humanitarian organisations to deliver medicine and equipment to children's hospitals in Ukraine.
At the same time, the foundation’s board of trustees decided to use the 2022 UEFA Foundation for Children Award, amounting to €1m, to help Ukrainian children in their homeland as well as those seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.