The tournament started on 16 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. The relegation play-offs took place on 23 May and 26 May 2018.[3] The league has scheduled to take its winter intermission after Round 19 on 9–10 December 2017 and resume its competition of the Championship with Round 20 on 17 February 2018.
The league's last season title sponsor, a bookmaker companyParimatch, withdrew from the sponsorship. On 7 July 2017, Pari-Match announced that it had ended its cooperation with the Ukrainian Premier League.[4]
Before the start of the season ascandal arose around promotion between the First League clubsFC Desna Chernihiv andNK Veres Rivne when Veres that placed lower in tournament table was admitted to the Premier League ahead of Desna. Later it was announced that Desna might be promoted as well due to rumors around a financial situation ofFC Stal Kamianske. The final decision of the league's composition was adopted at the FFU Conference on 16 June 2017.[5][6]
On 28 April 2017, theUkrainian Premier League administration announced that its General Assembly of participants adopted decision about changes to the competition format and calendar for the next 2017–18 season.[8] Before the assembly, the UPL Administration presented to its clubs five variants of competition format.[9]
For the next season UPL will keep 12 clubs (that fact was confirmed at the conference of coaches few days prior);[10]
Competition will have two stages, with the first stage having 22 rounds and the second stage after team will split into two six-members groups having 10 more rounds in each group;
Team that placed the 12th will be relegated directly toPersha Liha, teams that placed 10th and 11th will play two-leg play-off with the second and third teams of thePersha Liha.
The format was confirmed by the FFU Executive Committee on 30 May 2017.[3]
The draw for the second stage calendar was announced on 10 February and is scheduled to take place three days later on 13 February 2018.[11]
On 26 October 2017, the magazine "Futbol" reported quoting the FFU Executive Committee member Artem Frankov that theUkrainian Premier League at its next earliest session will review a possibility to expand the league back to 16 teams starting since the 2019–20 season.[12] At the same time number of clubs in theUkrainian First League will be decreased also to 16 teams.[12]
On 8 November 2017, a conference took place involving officials of theUkrainian Premier League as well as theFootball Federation of Ukraine (FFU) where its participants were discussing a reorganization of competition system in professional and amateur football.[13] A decision about the reform was adopted by the FFU Executive Committee on 20 June 2017.[13]
Home venues of teams in the2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League. Teams initalics are from the conflict zone of theWar in Donbas and are playing their home games in different cities. Stal Kamianske plays its home games inKyiv.Veres Rivne plays its home games inLviv.
^The reconstruction is intended to be finished mainly by the beginning of next season, while finishing touches might be applied until August 1, 2017.[18] The renovations are conducted in preparation to the2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League for which the Dynamo Stadium is chosen to be a venue of the final game.[19]
^Officially renamed as Volodymyr Boiko Stadium, the stadium is listed as Illichivets at theUkrainian Premier League website[20]
Ever sinceDarijo Srna was tested positive for doping (dehydroepiandrosterone among others), on 22 September 2017 he voluntarily stopped participation in competitions and on 20 November 2017 he has been suspended by UEFA for the continental competitions.[22][23][24] The team's captain for Shakhtar has been served either byTaras Stepanenko orTaison. On 22 February 2018, the disqualification was officially applied and retrospectively including the time he was suspended from competitions.[22] The start time of disqualification was identified as 22 March 2017 (date of test taken)[23] and the end time shall be no earlier than 22 August 2018.[22]
Source:Ukrainian Premier League(in Ukrainian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants. Notes:
^The game stopped after the first half (1:1) due to heavy snowfall. On 3 December 2017, the UPL Administration announced that the game will not be postponed to the next day on 4 December 2017 and a decision on its outcome will be adopted additionally.[53] On 6 December 2017, the League's administration announced that it will pass to the FFU Control and Disciplinary Committee for review all its materials related to the game.[54][55] Among many issues related to Karpaty, on 21 December 2017 the FFU CDC adopted a decision for a game between Karpaty and Olimpik to finish after the winter break.[56] The game was played on 21 February 2018.[57]
Source:Ukrainian Premier League(in Ukrainian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Source:Ukrainian Premier League(in Ukrainian) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Teams that placed 10th and 11th in the 2017–18 Ukrainian Premier League play two-leg play-off with the second and third teams of the2017–18 Ukrainian First League. On 11 May 2018, a draw for relegation play-offs took place in theHouse of Football,Kyiv.[59] The games were played on 23 May and 27 May 2018.[60]
On 1 June 2017, it was announced that second-placed clubFC Desna Chernihiv was denied a license to play in the top division. The argument was that the club was not able to provide guarantees for an adequate financing of infrastructure.[144] The license was received byNK Veres Rivne, the third-placed team during the last season in the second-tier division.[145]
Both clubs FC Desna Chernihiv and NK Veres Rivne did not play at their home stadiums in the2016–17 Ukrainian First League. The first one played inKyiv at theObolon Arena, while the other one played inVarash, at the Izotop Stadium of theRivne Nuclear Power Plant. The administration of Desna released a letter of protest before a meeting of FFU representatives.[146] In protest, the Desna administration announced that the club would not play its final game of the season againstFC Illichivets Mariupol, but later relented.[147] Nonetheless, during the game, players of both teams expressed their protest on the field in a special way: when the whistle was blown the players, instead of starting play, were demonstratively standing around yet kicking a ball.[148]
On 2 June 2017, upon conclusion of its conference theUPL administration announced about the final composition of the league and calendar for the upcoming season.[149] The conference confirmed the admission of Veres to the league and the only club that voted against wasFC Dynamo Kyiv, while six votes were for decision and three (includingFC Zorya Luhansk) abstained.[150] On 2 June 2017, the Desna fans were picketing theHouse of Football inKyiv after they arrived on four buses fromChernihiv.[151]
On 7 June 2017, sports media UA-Football requested fromFootball Federation of Ukraine andFC Desna Chernihiv to publish related documents to have better understanding over the situation and come to some kind of closure on the subject.[152]
Number of football experts negatively commented on the situation,[153][154][155][156] while thePFC Sumy head coachAnatoliy Bezsmertnyi stated that tomorrow these sports functionaries in such way will make Veres the national champions.[157] The formerPFL presidentSvyatoslav Syrota said that theFFU vice-president is lying about Desna problems.[158] President ofFC Inhulets Petrove, Oleksandr Porovoznyuk, called on other clubs to withdraw their teams from the league in support forFC Desna Chernihiv.[159] President ofFC Hirnyk-Sport Horishni Plavni Petro Kaplun stated that it makes him laugh when the president of Veres Oleksiy Khakhlev asks to follow the regulations. He points out that last season Veres was admitted to the Second League with complete disregard to the season's regulations. Kaplun also called on the FFU authorities to pay attention to what owners of professional clubs have to say as they have a right to express their vote of confidence for the FFU leadership.[160]
The issue was ongoing ever since the end of previous season when on 2 June 2017 FC Mariupol's promotion to theUkrainian Premier League became official.[161] On 3 June 2017 the vice president of Dynamo Serhiy Mokhnyk officially announced that the club will not travel for a game inMariupol city as it is difficult to present guarantees in security due the fact that the city is located near afrontline (about 23–25 km (14–16 mi), seeWar in Donbas).[161] The vice president also offered to conduct the game on a neutral field such asDnipro Arena.[162] Few days later in more details the same announcement was repeated byIhor Surkis who also added that if he will receive documented security guarantees, he will send his team to Mariupol.[161][163]
The leadership of theFootball Federation of Ukraine (FFU) in a face ofAndriy Pavelko right away expressed its opposition for the Dynamo's statement.[161] The president of FFU made an emphasis that the game in Mariupol is an important component of uniting policy on national scale.[161] He also underlined that there is no danger in conducting the game in Mariupol.[161]
During preparation for the next season the issue was moved to background. However, when the season started on 16 July 2017, the issue surfaced again.[161] About a week later, on 24 July 2017, Dynamo received recommendation letter from theMinistry of Interior and theSecurity Service of Ukraine where it was urged not to travel to Mariupol for a game.[164] The same day Dynamo published its own letter addressed to theFootball Federation of Ukraine andUkrainian Premier League petitioning to transfer the Round 7 game against Mariupol scheduled on 27 August 2017 to another city.[165][161] Two days later, on 26 July 2017, almost at the same time both the Minister of Interior (Arsen Avakov)[166] and the President of UPL (Volodymyr Heninson)[167] made public announcements assuring in safety of conducting football games in the littoral city of theSea of Azov.
Throughout the rest of month of July two games took place in Mariupol. Until AugustFC Karpaty Lviv supported the position of Dynamo.[161] Eventually to this "stand off" became involved the general manager ofFC Shakhtar Donetsk Serhiy Palkin, while the television channel "Football" launched a wide informational campaign in support to conduct the game.[161] For example, during one of the channel's broadcasting the president of Football Federation of Mariupol city calledHryhoriy Surkis the "main football separatist" and offered him to resolve the issue throughViktor Medvedchuk and the president of the aggressor state (Vladimir Putin).[161][168][169][170] On 11 August 2017, the Deputy director of National Police in Donetsk Oblast wrote an official letter to theFootball Federation of Ukraine with security guarantees for all games in Mariupol.[171] Finally the game between FC Mariupol and FC Karpaty took place on August 13 in Mariupol.[161]
On 18 August 2017, FFU issued a press release where it denied the petition of Dynamo in transferring the game.[172] The session of the FFU Executive Committee that had taken place on 22 August 2017 should have solved the problem.[161]
Following no show of Dynamo to the game with FC Mariupol on 27 August 2017, FC Mariupol issued a press release where it accused its opponents in attempt to discredit the football club from Mariupol.[173] On 14 November 2017, The Appeal Committee of the Football Federation of Ukraine did not satisfy the Dynamo appeal and counted the team's technical defeat.[174]
On 28 February 2018, theUkrainian Premier League has officially updated its standings in correspondence to the earlier decision of the FFU CDC of 11 September 2017.[177]
Due to the 2014Russian invasion of Ukraine some football clubs were forced to be dissolved, other moved away to other cities in Ukraine. Among the UPL teams, teams from Donetsk, Olimpik and Shakhtar, moved toKyiv, Zorya Luhansk moved toZaporizhia, teams from theAutonomous Republic of Crimea, Tavriya and Sevastopol, were dissolved. The relocated teams did not hurry with their change of place of registry in hope to be able to return home in near future.
In 2018 Shakhtar has officially changed its place of registry from Donetsk toMariupol.[16]
During the season several clubs (Shakhtar, Stal, and Veres) changed their city registration for various reasons and informed theFootball Federation of Ukraine that since the next season will represent other cities.[16]
The 2018 presidential elections of theUkrainian Premier League took place on 6 April 2018. The current presidentVolodymyr Heninson that serves as the president since February 2016 announced that he will not run for president in 2018.[178][179] Among possible candidates specialists note a Swiss lawyerThomas Grimm or Joe Palmer fromAFC Wimbledon.[178] As of 26 March 2018, a day before deadline for submitting candidacy for election, there is only Thomas Grimm whose candidacy was submitted byFC Oleksandriya on 22 March 2018.[180] On 6 April 2018, Thomas Grimm was elected as a new president with 10 votes for and 2 abstained.[181][182]
According to FootballHub, in March the FFU Disciplinary Committee prosecuted theOlimpik's junior teams U-19 and U-21 forgame fixing.[183] Earlier the CDC chairman, Francesco Baranca, underlined that Olimpik won't participate in European competitions if its junior teams will be disqualified.[183]
FC Vorskla Poltava could have problems with the league's attestation for next season for debts to its former players.[184] Another UPL player submitted his claim to the FFU CDC against its former clubFC Stal Kamianske.[185]
Serhii Rebrov
Alyaksandr Khatskevich
Yegishe Melikyan
Sergio Navarro
Nikolay Kostov
Dario Drudi(caretaker)
67',105'
64' 
110'
24'
Marlos[a]
Jorge Carrascal
Benjamin Verbič
Paulo Fonseca
