Grants for university studies for outstanding athletes to be launched from next academic year – Ukrainian sports minister Bidny
Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matviy Bidny allows the launch of grants for studying in higher education institutions for outstanding athletes from the next academic year.
"The presence of powerful school leagues, and then student leagues, is also our goal. But for this we must work so that as many of our children, teenagers and young athletes as possible play for their university team. Today we are working on a project of scholarships for outstanding athletes, the so-called study grants, so that, if you are an outstanding athlete, you have the opportunity to receive a scholarship for studying directly at your educational institution, to continue your sports career and be an example and basis for the university student team in order to then unite them into a national cup, a student league championship, which will then become a source for national teams or for professional clubs," Bidny said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
According to him, the draft law is currently in the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Education, Science and Innovations, and together with the people’s deputies, the ministry is working on an important amendment.
"We want the state to at least take part in securing a contract for the training of our outstanding athletes, or simply allow them to receive such an educational grant. But the goal is to ensure that an athlete does not just receive a grant for training and come somewhere where there is no sports infrastructure or opportunities to practice, and finish his sports career there, but that he gets the opportunity to study where he can continue to improve his sports skills, and also be able to become a leader of his student sports community and lead the students of this educational institution," the minister said.
In addition, he stated that the Ministry of Sports is doing everything to ensure that this program is operational by the next academic year.
As reported, in the first season of the All-Ukrainian Sports School Leagues "Side by Side" almost 300,000 students took part, and in the second - about 700 thousand. In the previous season, the number of age and gender groups was increased, and two sports were added - rugby-5 and handball. The third season gathered almost 1 million participants from all regions of Ukraine.
The first All-Ukrainian Sports Student Leagues "Side by Side" started in Ukraine in January 2026.
