June 8, 2025, 6:46 p.m.
(Photos by the event organizers)
Three of the world's most prestigious individual football awards - the Golden Balls of Oleg Blokhin, Ihor Belanov, and Andriy Shevchenko - have been brought to Odesa for display.
This is part of a large-scale tour of ten Ukrainian cities, Suspilne reported.
The installation will be open at the western entrance to the Chornomorets stadium from 10:00 to 20:00 on June 7 and 8. A charity pop-up shop will be open alongside the exhibition, where you can buy a special line of merchandise: golden soccer balls, T-shirts, bottles and posters with facsimile signatures of the three award winners. All profits from the sales will go to the Ukrainian Football Association's School Ball children's tournament.
"The Ballon d'Or is a football award established by the French magazine France Football in 1956, which is presented annually to the world's best player. Oleg Blokhin won the Ballon d'Or in 1975, Ihor Belanov in 1986, and Andriy Shevchenko in 2004.
In December 2024, the Golden Ball award, which footballer Andriy Shevchenko won 20 years ago, was displayed at the Odesa railway station. The award was displayed as part of an all-Ukrainian tour.
Meanwhile, on May 18, Odesa's Chornomorets football team met with Kyiv's Dynamo at its stadium as part of the Ukrainian Premier League championships. On May 13, the football club announced that it had received permission to hold a game with fans. In March 2024, Chornomorets football club received permission from the Odesa Military Administration to hold a UPL match with fans present at the stadium. At that time, Chornomorets hosted a match against NC Veres.
Due to the full-scale Russian invasion, fans were banned from visiting stadiums in Ukraine. However, in December 2023, the Ministry of Youth and Sports developed a procedure for coordinating and holding sports events with spectators.
Кирило Бойко