The 2015β16
Ukrainian Premier League season is the 25th top-level football competitions since the
fall of the Soviet Union and the eighth since the establishment of the
Ukrainian Premier League. Because of sponsorship the league changed its title for 2015β16 season to League
Parimatch. The competition commenced on 17 July when
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia hosted
Zorya Luhansk in
Zaporizhzhia.[1] The first sixteen rounds were played before the winter break which began 6 December 2015; the competition resumed on 5 March 2016. The season concluded on 15 May 2016.
Dynamo Kyiv are the defending champions.
With the continuation of the
Ukrainian crisis in the oblasts of
Donetsk and
Luhansk, the league remained at 14 teams after being cut from 16 in the
2013β14 season.[1][2]
Format
It was confirmed that the championship would be played using a standard double
round-robin tournament system. The last team would be relegated and would be replaced by the champion of the
2015β16 Ukrainian First League.[3] In the event of a decision being made to expand the league to 16 teams next season, the last team will play a play-off game with a team that takes the third place of the
2015β16 Ukrainian First League, while the champion and runner-up would be promoted.[3]
After the previous season the president of
FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk announced that the club will be merged with
FC Metalurh Donetsk and replace them in the Premier League for the 2015β16 season[4] due to the fact that both clubs are owned by the
Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD).[5] On 11 July 2015, the owners of
FC Metalurh Donetsk have sent a letter to the
Football Federation of Ukraine announcing their withdrawal from the competitions.[6] Right before the start of competitions it was uncertain which club will replace Metalurh either
FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk or
FC Illichivets Mariupol.[7][8] On 14 July 2015, the administration of Illichivets released a letter explaining its reason why the club should remain in the league.[9] Due to the fact that the Premier League members did not manage to gather a quorum, on 16 July 2015, the
Football Federation of Ukraine Executive Committee voted on to include Stal to the
Premier League (29 for, 7 against and 1 abstain).[10][11]
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia case
On 7 October 2015,
FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia petitioned to the Premier League to withdraw the club from the competition's participation due to the lack of financing.[12] On 24 November 2015, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia informed the Premier League about decision of a deliberate assembly of the Metalurh Zaporizhzhia members in regards to liquidation of the club. On 2 March 2016, the Premier League cancelled the 17th-round game for Metalurh Zaporizhzhia due to the fact that there are only four players were registered for the second half and only five more are allowed to be registered outside of a
transfer window. Also the club failed to inform the league and the visiting team about place and time of the upcoming game.[12]
On 13 March 2016, it was announced that the club's academy the Sports School Metalurh, was handed over to the city authorities after the liquidation of the club.[13]
On 7 April 2016, another Zaporizhzhia city club "Rosso Nero" successfully changed its name to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia[14] and will participate in the
2016 Ukrainian Football Amateur League.[15]
Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk scandal
On 19 November 2015,[16][17] there was appointed a new president of the club Vardan Israelian as the previous president Maksym Zavhorodniy changed his place of work.[18] In a protest of appointing Vardan Israelian, the club's vice-president Mykola Kolyuchy resigned[19] and replaced with Bohdan Napolov.[20] On 24 December 2015, took place a meeting of members of FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk which decided discontinue contract with its U-19 team due to "a lack of patriotism" as well as liquidate contracts with number of players from the U-21 who were involved in corruption along with the team's head coach
Serhiy Shyshchenko.[21] Israelian informed that during his talk with Mazyar, the latter said that he will not work without Kolyuchy in the club.[22]
Home venues of teams in the 2015β16 Ukrainian Premier League. Teams in italics are from a conflict zone of the
War in Donbass and are playing their home games in different cities. Stal plays its games also in
Dnipropetrovsk rather than at home.
Round when attendance is noted as highest is the chronological number of the round, not the published round by the Ukrainian Premier League since some rounds were rescheduled for a later date.
Since Ukraine finished in eighth place of the UEFA country ranking after the 2014β15 season,[39] the league will have the same number of qualifiers for
2016β17 UEFA Europa League — 3. The
Ukrainian Cup winner qualifies for the
Group stage.
Qualified teams
After the 19th round and announcement made by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in regards to
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (see the standings table), both
Dynamo Kyiv and
Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for European football for the 2016β17 season.[40]
After the quarter-finals second leg of the
Ukrainian Cup,
Zorya Luhansk qualified for European football for the 2016β17 season.
After the 21st round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Champions League as they secured a top 2 finish in the league.
After the 22nd round, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Champions League as they secured a top 2 finish in the league. At the same time, Zorya Luhansk qualified for the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League (third qualifying round) as they secured a top six finish in the league (see below for further information). Zorya Luhansk could still qualify for group stage instead, depending on cup winners.
After the 23rd round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Champions League (group stage) by winning the league three rounds ahead of finish. One of the last three games is against the expelled Metalurh Zaporizhzhia for which they guaranteed another three point. At the same time, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League (third qualifying round) as they secured the second place.
After the 24th round,
Vorskla Poltava qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Europa League yet it still could qualify for group stage.
After the 25th round,
FC Oleksandriya qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Europa League yet it still could qualify for group stage.
After the 26th round, Zorya Luhansk qualified for the 2016β17 UEFA Europa League Group Stage by securing the third best league position eligible for the European competition and making the outcome of the
2016 Ukrainian Cup Final irrelevant for the European qualification. At the same time, Vorskla Poltava and FC Oleksandriya will start at the 2016-17 UEFA Europe League third qualification round.
^Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for the
Europa League group stage by winning the
2015β16 Ukrainian Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
^On 31 March 2016, the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) announced that
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will be excluded from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which they would otherwise qualify in the next three (3) seasons (i.e. the 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons).[41]
^
abOn 22 April 2016, the FFU Committee announced that Metalist Kharkiv and Hoverla Uzhhorod would not be allowed to participate in the professional competitions because of their debts to their players as well as Volyn Lutsk due to the fact that they had not even applied for a license for the following season.[42][43] On 16 May 2016 the FFU Appeal Committee adopted decision to leave in force the decision of the FFU Football Clubs Attestation Committee of 22 April 2016 and refuse in issuing attestation for the next season for Hoverla Uzhhorod and Metalist Kharkiv by declining their appeals.[44]
^Volyn Lutsk were deducted a total of eighteen points. Twelve points were deducted initially by FIFA for non-payment of wages owed to former players (
Issa Ndoye and
DuΕ‘an SaviΔ).[45] An additional six points were deducted by the Football Federation of Ukraine due to the club not complying with FIFA directives.[46] On 30 May 2016 some Ukrainian media announced that Volyn was issued the attestation for the next season without financial guarantees.[47][48] Later same day a FFU representative confirmed that Volyn managed to provide financial guarantees and made all required pre pays on time.[49]
^Hoverla Uzhhorod had nine points deducted due to not complying with decisions of the
FFU Control and Disciplinary Committee (CDC).[50]
^On 7 October 2015
FC Metalurh Zaporizhia petitioned to the Premier Liha to withdraw the club from the competition's participation due to the lack of financing.[12] On 24 November 2015 Metalurh Zaporizhia informed the Premier Liha about decision of a deliberate assembly of the Metalurh Zaporizhia members in regards to liquidation of the club.
Metalurh Zaporizhia were expelled from the competition after the winter break. Technical victories will be awarded to their opponents for the rest of season.[51] In late April, it was announced that the team had not received a license for next season.[42][43] On 2 March 2016 the Premier Liha cancelled the 17th round game for Metalurh Zaporizhia due to the fact that there are only four players were registered for the second half and only five more are allowed to be registered outside of a
transfer window. Also the club failed to inform the league and the visiting team about place and time of the upcoming game.[12]
Source:
uafootball.net.ua Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
^On 15 April 2016 the FFU Control and Disciplinary Committee (KDK) adopted decision to award
FC Hoverla Uzhhorod technical losses in last two games (at home against Olimpik and away against Chornomorets) where the club fielded a player (
VitΔlijs Jagodinskis) and allowed a banned coach (Oleksiy Velychko) who were supposed to serve their suspension.[53][54][55] The club was also fined a total of β΄60,000 (~$2,000).[53]
^Premier League administration cancelled Round 17 and 18 matches due to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia not having enough players registered to compete.[12] Metalurh Zaporizhzhia was expelled from the competition and all their remaining games are technical losses (-:+), while their opponents receive a technical victory (+:-).[51]
Positions by round
The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition played chronologically. Originally scheduled Round 12 has been scheduled to be played after Round 16.[56]