It is a strange and yet exciting time to be a football fan in Ukraine this summer. With the domestic league season over and the World Cup upon us, local supporters will have to look to support someone else than the Ukrainian national team (or Russia’s!). Against the background of another failed season in European club competitions and no new starlets coming through there have been calls for the Ukrainian and Russian domestic leagues to merge. Though the Soviet league was strong, there is more to this idea than meets the eye at first glance. The coach of Dynamo Kyiv, who himself is Russian, has supported such calls. Ukrainian magnate and Shakhtar Donestk owner Rinat Akhmetov has voiced his support. However, the problem is not one of merger but of raising the overall standard. A merger producing an elitist division will not raise overall standards. With the Soviet-era system of youth academies destroyed a long time ago smaller clubs undoubtedly lose talent quicker to the big boys. Ukrainian football needs more homegrown players coming through the ranks and fewer imports. And, against the backdrop of closer ties and cooperation between Ukraine and Russia on the political front, any merger of leagues could enable the rivals of current Ukrainian football chief Heorhiy Surkis to grab his post and the income streams that go with it. And this is with the Euro-2012 tournament in Ukraine just two years away.

Ukrainian referee Oleh Orekhov recently lost his appeal against a life ban from football for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal. UEFA rejected his attempt to overturn the ban. He was banned in March after Uefa received information from a German police investigation into more than 200 matches played across Europe. This case shows that though football is big business the temptations are just as big. With the 2012 tournament around the corner it is high time for Ukrainian clubs and officials to clean up their act.