2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League
The 2015–16 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 2015–16 season to League Parimatch. The competition commenced on 17 July when Metalurh Zaporizhya hosted Zorya Luhansk in Zaporizhzhia. 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 2013–14 season. 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 2015–16 Ukrainian First League. 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  2015–16 Ukrainian First League, while the champion and runner-up would be promoted. Teams. Metalurh Donetsk / Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk case. 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 2015–16 season due to the fact that both clubs are owned by the Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD). 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. Right before the start of competitions it  was uncertain which club will replace Metalurh either FC Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk or FC Illichivets Mariupol. On 14 July 2015, the administration of Illichivets released a letter explaining its reason why the club should remain in the league. 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). Metalurh Zaporizhya case. On 7 October 2015, FC Metalurh Zaporizhya petitioned to the Premier League to withdrew the club from  the competition's participation due to the lack of financing. On 24 November 2015, Metalurh Zaporizhya informed the Premier League about decision of a deliberate assembly of the Metalurh Zaporizhya members in regards to liquidation of the club. On 2 March 2016, the Premier League cancelled the 17th-round game for Metalurh Zaporizhya 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. 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. On 7 April 2016, another Zaporizhzhia city club "Rosso Nero" successfully changed its name to Metalurh Zaporizhya and will participate in the 2016 Ukrainian Football Amateur League. Stal Dniprodzerzhynsk scandal. On 19 November 2015, there was appointed a new president of the club Vardan Israelian as the previous president Maksym Zavhorodniy changed his place of work. In a protest of appointing Vardan Israelian, the club's vice-president  Mykola Kolyuchy resigned and replaced with Bohdan Napolov. 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. Israelian informed that during his talk with Mazyar, the latter said that he will not work without Kolyuchy in the club. Stadiums. The following stadiums are regarded as home grounds: Note: 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. League table. 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. Season statistics. Top goalscorers. Notes: Hat-tricks. Awards. The laureates of the 2015–16 UPL season were: