The restriction on legionnaires in Ukraine will happen, but later. Starting from the 2005-2006 season, no more than 8 foreigners may appear on the field in the Ukrainian championship. Such a decision cannot be called anything other than "a laughingstock." In Ukrainian football, the interests of Kyiv's "Dynamo" and "Shakhtar" have once again prevailed, defeating the prestige of the Ukrainian national team.
\n \nThe requests of Oleh Blokhin were ignored, while what the president of "Shakhtar" — Rinat Akhmetov — and "Dynamo" — Ihor Surkis — were pushing for, having repeatedly said they were against a sharp reduction of legionnaires, proved decisive. For at least another season, domestic footballers will not have the opportunity to break into the starting lineup of the Ukrainian giants. The FFU Executive Committee and the Council of the PFL of Ukraine, which at a closed session adopted such a decision, once again showed that it works not for Ukrainian football, but for Akhmetov and Surkis. Moreover, the future limit of 8 players on the field looks so ridiculous that it makes you want to cry.
\n \nTrue, upon the completion of the autumn part of this championship, the participants of the session promise to return to discussing the issue of further restricting the number of foreign players. But that will be later. For now, as a "teaser" of this humiliating decision for Ukrainian football, they decided to buy themselves off with such a novelty. \n \nStarting from the 14th Ukrainian championship (2004/05 season), each top-league club that registers a legionnaire in the team roster will be obliged to pay to the Fund for the Development of Children's and Youth Football of Ukraine a mandatory monetary contribution equivalent to 10,000 USD. For each subsequent foreigner, this amount will increase by 5,000 USD. In first-league clubs, this amount will respectively be 5,000 USD and 2,500 USD. \n \nConsidering the fact that most teams in the Ukrainian championship have more than 50% legionnaire players registered, the treasury of the children's football fund will be replenished quite quickly — that's good. But if for Kyiv's "Dynamo" and Donetsk's "Shakhtar" such a sum will not be fantastic, then for teams like "Volyn" or "Tavriya" — it will amount to almost half of their annual budget for the entire team. \n \nIn conclusion, it is worth adding that the proposal for a limit of 8 legionnaires came from the president of the FFU, Hryhoriy Surkis. However, there is one question for Hryhoriy Mykhailovych. Why was he, a man who loves Ukrainian football so much, unable to achieve (and he could have) that the restriction on legionnaires be adopted already in the next season, and moreover not 8 people, but at least 6 foreigners would be able to take the field. Couldn't do it? Most likely, the ambitions of the oligarch who makes money from football outweighed those of a patriot fan. Although we may be mistaken.
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