In cooperation with the Football is More Foundation and its partner clubs, coaches and players have been trained since 2024 to set up teams with war-disabled and leg amputees. They are already taking part in the Polish league championship and have made a promising start. In a short space of time, football has succeeded in helping people with serious war injuries to return to life to some extent. They come out of isolation, take part in group activities, learn to play football with crutches, compete with others and find new courage to face life.
International Helvetia Cup in St. Gallen, Switzerland
The International Helvetia Cup - Football for Inclusion - took place in St. Gallen last August, 2024. Two teams from FK Pokrova from Lviv/Ukraine also took part. The Amputee Football tournament thrilled the spectators. For many, it was the first time they had seen Amputee football matches, and it was surprising to see the speed and physicality of the play. The action on the pitch was heated, but always fair. After the final whistle at the latest, opponents became like-minded people again, enjoying the fun of the game. It was particularly pleasing that the two teams from FK Pokrova were able to keep up with the war-disabled and leg amputees from Ukraine, even though some of them have been playing amputee football for less than a year. One of the two teams even achieved a shared first place and thus the tournament victory, together with Everton FC from Liverpool.
Bogdan Melnyk - coach of FK Pokrova - is proud of his players. He says: “I started as coach of FK Pokrova a year ago. Now I'm more of an organizer and manager. It was only a year ago that I found out about amputee football. Don Bosco Father Mykhailo asked me if I would set up such a team. First we had to find interested players - the search wasn't easy. I visited rehabilitation centers, volunteer organizations and hospitals. I spoke to many candidates and motivated them to take part. The individual fates of our players are very close to my heart and at the same time show me how important this amputee football club is. After one year, we now have 35 active players in our football club, 80% of whom are war-disabled soldiers, the others have lost a leg through illness or an accident. Our work gives people emotional and psychological help, but also joy on many levels. My vision is for the whole thing to become much bigger. I also dream of having our own teams for women and children. And that amputee football will give new support and hope to people with disabilities throughout Ukraine. We are giving people back a piece of the life they have lost.”
“Sport connects where there is trauma,” says Markus Burri, Managing Director of Don Bosco Jugendhilfe Weltweit based in Beromünster, Switzerland. By this he means both physical and psychological injuries, which are particularly deep-seated in war victims. “The language of sport is universal and is used in Don Bosco aid projects worldwide: celebrating victories, learning from defeats, growing in team spirit, but in any case being in positive motion,” says Markus Burri, describing the targeted promotion of sport for the social integration and inclusion of disadvantaged people as part of the worldwide development projects of the Salesians of Don Bosco.
People live with the war
When the war broke out, it was unclear whether and how the Salesians of Don Bosco would be able to continue their work in Ukraine. Whether they would be able to maintain their youth centers and educational institutions. The situation has stabilized. The country and its people are living with the war. The Salesians of Don Bosco are working within the bounds of what is possible - despite the immense challenges. Due to the emergency situation, further projects have been added.
The Pokrova family home in Lviv is currently home to 70 children, most of whom are orphans. In recent years, thirty new children have been added, mostly from the war zone in the east of the country, and just as many have been adopted or left because they came of age. It is important that the young people find a good place to call home.
In cooperation with the government, a container settlement for 1,000 internally displaced persons - mostly women and children - was built on a piece of land belonging to the Salesians. These people are provided with food parcels every day. In addition, 1000 meals a day are distributed to people in embattled war zones. Important information work is also carried out in the war zones. 70 women from this settlement are undergoing vocational training at the Don Bosco Center in Lviv.
In the long term, for the time after the war, Don Bosco Father Mykhailo hopes that a large and holistic sports and rehabilitation center for war-wounded and traumatized people can be built. It should become a place of hope and recovery and offer prospects for the future.
