page_title: Sport in Ukraine
section_title: Rugby League
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in Ukraine / Rugby League
caption_attribution_description: English: European Sevens 2008 (Hannover Sevens) tournament in Hannover, Germany. Second game of Group B, Ireland vs Ukraine. Oleg Kvasnitsa obtaining the ball. The final result of the game was 26:7 for Ireland. Deutsch: 7er-Rugby Europameisterschaft (Hannover Sevens) in Hannover. Zweites Spiel der Gruppe B, Irland gegen die Ukraine. Oleg Kvasnitsa erobert den Ball. Das Spiel endete mit 26:7 für Irland.
context_page_description: Sports in Ukraine as in any other countries throughout the World plays an important role in shaping popular view of Ukraine and Ukrainian popular culture to its residents and the rest of the World. Being dominated by Russia since the 18th century, sport on the bigger portion of Ukraine as the rest of popular culture in Ukraine has been overshadowed by Russian culture as its regional deviation. As part of Ukrainian culture, sport began its development in Austria-Hungary and was influenced by various European physical culture movements such as pan-Germanic Turners, pan-Slavic Sokol, and others. In the Russian Empire, the Ukrainian nation was never recognized and was criminally prosecuted, while the Little-Russian culture was allowed to existed only as folk culture. Only after dissolution of the Soviet Union, in 1992 the Ukrainian anthem first sounded at Olympic Games starting with the Olympic victory of Oleh Kucherenko and immediately followed by victories of Tetiana Hutsu and Oleksandra Tymoshenko.
  Among sports football and wrestling have been popular in Ukraine since the 19th century.
context_section_description: The Ukrainian Federation of Rugby League joined the RLEF (Rugby League European Federation) in 2008 as an Official Observer. Its operations are concentrated in the east of the country, around the industrial cities of Kharkov and Donetsk. The first club, Legion XIII, was formed by students in 2007 and played in the Russian championship before the commencement of the four-team Ukrainian championship in 2009. In 2014, The Ukrainian Rugby League Federation (UFRL) has struck an agreement with the authorities to include specific rugby league content in the state's 45 sports schools.
  In what the UFRL describes as, “a major victory” for the sport, the move follows rugby league's official recognition by the government in 2012.
  The championship increased to six clubs in 2010, demonstrating the rapid rise of the sport in the country. In addition to the championship the UFRL runs the Ukrainian Cup and, since 2010, a youth competition. Internationally, UFRL has fielded a senior national side since 2008 but participated in official competition for the first time in 2009.
caption: Ukrainian team intercepts the ball from Ireland at European Sevens 2008.
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