Ukraine’s campaign at Euro 2024 will be accompanied by a stark reminder of the destruction inflicted on the country’s football scene after their football association was given permission to display part of a destroyed stadium, used during Euro 2012, in German cities.
Sonyachny Stadium in Kharkiv was deployed as a training base for the Netherlands 12 years ago and hosted the 2019-20 Ukraine women’s cup final. It has also served as a facility for the men’s national team. But Kharkiv has been under attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and in May 2022 the venue was rendered unusable by heavy shelling.
