On 20 August, a meeting with representatives of sports federations, civil society and veteran communities on the development of adaptive sports was held under the chairmanship of the Head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Matvii Bidnyi.

One of the key areas of the Ministry’s work is the development of adaptive sports, the creation of an extensive network of adaptive clubs and ensuring conditions for war veterans, people with disabilities, people with functional limitations to practice a particular sport, depending on their interests and preferences.

The Ministry has started working with sports federations in sports recognised in Ukraine to create appropriate conditions by implementing an adaptive sports component in the Competition Rules.

As of today, the first sports federations have adapted the Competition Rules for grappling, pankration, strength athletics, WKC karate and chess to the needs of war veterans and people with disabilities, which have been approved by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

During the meeting, representatives of sports federations shared their experience of holding events involving a certain group of people and outlined their vision of developing adaptive sports as a separate discipline of a particular sport. In turn, representatives of the veterans’ community voiced the problems and obstacles faced today and discussed ways to solve them. Steps have been outlined to ensure that comprehensive sports events will be held at the national level starting in 2025.

The first event to be implemented in 2024 as part of the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ work to develop adaptive sports will be the All-Ukrainian sporting event of the Ukrainian Strongman Federation “Victory of the Unconquered”, which will take place on 15 September this year.

Barrier-free accessibility is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which is being implemented as part of the National Strategy for Creating Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine, initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska.