Charity brings football to the heart of rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers injured in war
Injured Ukrainian veterans have taken part in a special amputee football tournament at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, with the aim of supporting Ukrainian servicemen affected by the ongoing war with Russia.
The Tackling Matters tournament brought together some of the best amputee football players from across the UK, including teams representing Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal, to take part alongside the former Ukrainian soldiers.
The sporting event is focused on the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded and injured Ukrainian veterans, with football playing a central role in the charity's efforts.
Charity director of Tackling Matters, Liam Sullivan, founded the charity in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 after completing multiple aid runs in a van to the Ukrainian border.
Speaking to BFBS Sport, he said: "It’s been difficult, and one of the big things to have been difficult is the bureaucracy and the red tape trying to get those from Ukraine out of the country.
"But we've done it, and today we're celebrating that and also realising that they're only one day away from us and they're fighting for the Western world.
"I didn't believe it would come off, and I'm honoured to have them all here, all of them."
The green pitch and the goals set up for this event outside New College at Sandhurst are to be transported to Ukraine to be used for mental and physical rehabilitation.
That vital work is being undertaken by the Unbroken Foundation at Ukraine's National Rehabilitation Centre in Lviv.
Representing Unbroken at the event, Bohdan Boiko said: "As one of the biggest medical unions in Ukraine, we've started to initialise the implementation of sports activities into the rehabilitation and reintegration of the patients.
"This is one of the key components of such rehabilitation, and activities like this that include the social part take a crucial role if we're talking about the advanced rehabilitation of people who were severely damaged, especially those who came from captivity or torture and want to come back to their normal life."
In the football game, all teams tussled in very spirited games of amputee football, including those featuring veterans from Ukraine.
The final game saw Brighton eventually nicking the victory from the players from Arsenal.
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