Ukrainian football authorities have confirmed that the country's upcoming domestic fixtures will take place as planned, despite ongoing threats of a wide-scale invasion of the country from Russia.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin announced the recognition of two eastern Ukraine regions - around Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent states, resulting in some US officials stating that an invasion is already underway, according to CNN.
Despite this, the Ukrainian Premier League is set to return this week following a two month winter break and all 16 teams in the top division are hoping to continue, with an aim to bring some normality to the country.
Ukrainian football expert and journalist Andrew Todos told the Daily Mail: "The main message to the Ukrainian people now is to carry on.
People are worried, but football helps to give some respite".
As it stands, there are currently no plans in place to postpone the fixtures that begin on Friday, with Andriy Pavelko, president of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), releasing a statement that read: "Stability is very important right now and we want to tell the world that life goes on and the way we can help with that is the resumption of our league".
Pavelko admits that the situation will have to be "assessed" if there are any dramatic changes to the outlook in Ukraine.
"We have to hope the difficult days will go away and there will be peace and prosperity for our country. Obviously, if the situation changes, we will have to assess the position".
Ukrainian service members are seen on the front line near the city of Novoluhanske in the Donetsk region, Ukraine February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
GLEB GARANICH
Furthermore, Ukrainian Premier League chief Yevhen Dykyy added: "We continue to closely monitor the situation, but at the moment the season resumes with a match between Mynai and Zorya Luhansk on Friday."
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has announced that the US is ordering heavy financial sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs, declaring that Moscow had flagrantly violated international law by invading Ukraine.
“None of us will be fooled” by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims about Ukraine, the US president said.
And he said more sanctions could be on the way if Mr Putin proceeds further.
Mr Biden said he was also moving additional US troops to the Baltic states on Nato’s eastern flank bordering Russia.
Mr Biden joined the 27 European Union members who unanimously agreed on Tuesday to levy their own initial set of sanctions targeting Russian officials over their actions in Ukraine.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the package, approved on Tuesday, “will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot”.
