Ukraine's Football Troubles

Ukraine has been banned from the next two European Championships, and the next World Cup, due to the country's government meddling in its football administration. This comes after several years of Ukraine's association football team performing poorly in competitions both domestically and internationally. Ukraine's football team will be unable to compete in Euro 2020 and, most likely, the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This article takes a look at why Ukraine was banned from international football by UEFA and what this means for the future of Ukrainian football.

• Who are they?  

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The Ukraine public football crew addresses Ukraine in men's worldwide football and is represented by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the administering body for football in Ukraine. Ukraine's home ground is the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv. The group has been full of individuals from UEFA Euro 2012.

• Political Fights 

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It is no secret that Ukrainian-Russian relations have been tense as of late. In September 2016, Ukraine's football team withdrew from a World Cup qualifying match against Russia due to security concerns after its plane was shot at while landing in Rostov-on-Don, Russian news outlet TASS reported. The association then filed a lawsuit with UEFA stating that it would be unsafe for their players to compete against Russia, Ukrainian publication UNIAN reported.

• Corruption Problems 

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Ukraine has had issues with corruption for quite some time. The nation was ranked 135th in terms of how corrupt a country is on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). Even just prior to Ukraine’s membership in UEFA, Ukraine had difficulties taking action against football clubs that violated its own football regulations. There was also a lack of transparency within football and officials at all levels seemed untouchable to any means of disciplinary actions and punishments.

• What Can Be Done? 

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The public football team of Ukraine is in a quandary, and it has been for quite some time. It’s a storyline that reminds me of a popular TV show in my home state called Breaking Bad. For those of you who don’t watch (I can’t imagine why), Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher whose life goes down a dark path after he learns he has terminal cancer. Here