They were also banned from attending any international competitions.
Due to debts to the European Federation, everyone Ukrainian national field hockey teams were removed from European Championships 2025. A ban was also received on attending any international competitions. We are talking about the women’s, men’s and both youth teams.
The Brussels office of Eurohockey claims that the Ukrainian Federation owes it more than 32 thousand euros (more than 1.2 million UAH), including fees for competitions. Interestingly, this money was paid by the Ukrainian national teams of the National Federation. This is evidenced by the relevant bank receipts. But the Ukrainian European Federation, obviously, did not transfer funds. Having learned about this, the coaches of the Ukrainian national teams went to the Ministry of Sports, but they advised them to contact law enforcement agencies.
As a result, the head coach of the national women’s field hockey team, Evgeniy Bondarenko, registered with law enforcement agencies a statement about a financial crime on the part of the Ukrainian Field Hockey Federation.
“When a team takes part in the European Championships, financing occurs in the following way – an estimate of expenses is created: daily allowances for participants, accommodation, travel and a fee for participation in competitions. The Subsistence Ministry pays athletes directly. Transport is also paid most often by the Ministry of Direction to the carrier, and the remaining funds are paid to the corporate card of the financially responsible person, in this case Svetlana Makaeva, the senior coach of the National Team,” explains the head coach of the women’s field hockey team Evgeniy Bondarenko.
“I pay for the team’s accommodation using a corporate card, then report to the Ministry. And in a separate payment to the account of the Ukrainian Federation, I pay the National Team’s contribution for participation in competitions. For each competition separately. And I have paid all the fees, which is confirmed by bank receipts. The Ukrainian Federation should transfer this money to the Eurohockey Federation, but, judging by the latter’s letter, this money did not reach Eurohockey,” sums up the senior coach of the national team Svetlana Makeeva.
Since September 2021, the Ukrainian Field Hockey Federation has been headed by Sergey Dontsov. It was after a meeting with him and the vice-president of the Ukrainian federation Sergei Kachinsky that Euro Hockey decided to remove the Ukrainian national teams from the 2025 European Championships and prohibited the Ukrainian national teams from attending any international field hockey or indoor hockey events until the debt was repaid in full.
Also, Eurohockey President Marcos Hoffmann and General Director Angus Kirkland sent a letter addressed to “To Whom It May Concern” and copies of which were received by the head coach of the Ukrainian women’s field hockey team Evgeniy Bondarenko, claiming that the Ukrainian Federation owes Eurohockey everything from 2022 32073.17 euros.
The Ukrainian women’s field hockey team won third place at the European Indoor Hockey Championship in 2022, and third place at the 5S European Hockey Championship (“summer” version of indoor hockey) in 2023, and this year it took second place in similar competitions .
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
