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Ukraine’s League of The Mighty Wins UEFA Award for Transforming Adaptive Football
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![Maryna_kulakova]( "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
-924c3c302c27387e19f6c44aaeb98745.png "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
Less than a year after its launch, the League of The Mighty, a Ukrainian initiative, has won the prestigious UEFA FootbALL Awards 2025 in the National Association category, according to UEFA’s Instagram announcement on Instagram on May 9. The award was presented during the UEFA RESPECT Forum in Zurich, Switzerland.
The League of The Mighty, led by the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), aims to develop and promote amputee football, and this recognition highlights UAF's commitment to adaptive sports.
“There are over three million people with disabilities in Ukraine, and this number continues to grow due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. We must rethink the concept of disability, focusing not on limitations, but on the capabilities of these individuals. That’s the inclusive environment we are building,” said UAF President Andriy Shevchenko.
Before the launch of the League of The Mighty, Ukraine had only four amateur amputee football teams. In less than a year, the UAF initiative has united 13 teams nationwide, offering veterans, servicewomen, and people with limb amputations or mobility impairments a pathway back into sports and recovery, using football as a tool for both physical and emotional rehabilitation.
This weekend, the second All-Ukrainian Amputee Football Tournament will take place, and the Association is also preparing to launch Ukraine's first official Amputee Football Championship.
“Amputee football is a recognized sport globally, but in Ukraine, it holds even deeper meaning. Most of our players are veterans—young, determined individuals who, just a few years ago, were civilians playing football in their spare time,” said Olena Balbek, UAF Adviser to the President on Communications and Social Projects.
“Today, they return to the pitch not as victims, but as athletes. We are creating a space where they are not defined by what they’ve lost, but by their strength, resilience, and immense potential. This is how the world sees Ukrainian society — inclusive, determined, and unbreakable.”
This year’s UEFA FootbALL Award recipients, alongside the Ukrainian Association of Football, include the English Premier League, football clubs Everton and Liverpool, and iconic player and coach Carolina Morace.
Previously, Ukrainians Artur Mylin and Illia Pylypenko won bronze medals in wheelchair basketball at the Invictus Games 2025 in Canada, the Basketball Federation of Ukraine announced on February 10.
