Football
Football is the most popular sport in Ukraine. The strongest and highest-level league is the Ukrainian Premier League, which is also known as the Vyscha Liha (Top league). The second-ranking league is the Persha Liha or the Ukrainian First League. The next league down is the Second League or Druha Liha, which is divided into two groups, East(B) and West(A), according to their location. The fourth-level league is Amateur Level.
At the end of each season, the two lowest-ranking teams in the Vyscha Liha are relegated to the Persha Liha, while the two top teams of the Persha Liha are promoted to the Vyscha Liha. The two lowest-ranking Persha Liha teams are relegated to the Druha Liha, while the top two teams in the Druha Liha League are promoted to the Persha Liha. Teams receive three points if they win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Each team plays each other twice.
Teams from all leagues can participate in the Ukrainian Cup. The winners of the Ukrainian Championship and the Ukrainian Cup take part in the Ukrainian Super Cup.
Andriy Shevchenko is a famous Ukrainian footballer, who is considered a national hero in Ukraine.
Ukraine was the host to the UEFA European Football Championship in 2012, together with Poland.
Read more about this topic: Sport In Ukraine
Famous quotes containing the word football:
“In this dream that dogs me I am part
Of a silent crowd walking under a wall,
Leaving a football match, perhaps, or a pit,
All moving the same way.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)
“You can’t be a Real Country unless you have A BEER and an airline—it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER.”
—Frank Zappa (1940–1993)