The pitch condition is good

- Work on the pitch preparation is ongoing. We have boosted it at the moment. Our club has drawn up a programme taking into account the experience of preparing top-level pitches, and it is being implemented jointly with the NSC Olimpiyskiy. The range of events these days is much wider than it used to be before. The pitch condition is satisfactory, we can even say good. In all honesty, it falls short of the level of the OSK Metalist pitch taking into account many factors. A huge disadvantage is that this pitch has no reinforcement system. In addition, there has been no renovation here since 2011 or 2012. All this affects the quality.

- What are the requirements of the coaching staff?

- They have been known for a long time, and there’s nothing unique about it. All top-level teams want strong turf that covers 100% of the pitch. It should be stable, with good ball bouncing properties and grass of a certain height - in our case, usually well below 30 millimetres. We will endeavour to comply with those requirements as far as the weather and other factors permit us to do so.

- Are Shakhtar ready to play games in front of the audience? How many people will be allowed inside?

- The current situation does not allow doing that. Until Monday, Kyiv is in the orange zone - the requirements are much more stringent, so the match against Olimpik will be held behind closed doors. Starting Monday, Kyiv will be in the yellow zone, which means that, basically, the match organizer will have to meet a number of requirements: to ensure the distance between spectators of 1.5 metres, no more than five square metres per person while indoors, plus wearing face masks, hand treatment etc. If we comply with all those requirements, especially in such a good modern stadium as NSC Olimpiyskiy, we can expect the relevant competent authorities to give us permission to hold matches with spectators present. But all this will happen only if the situation with the spread of COVID-19 does not deteriorate sharply. We are monitoring the situation very closely. The number one priority is the life and health of our audience. Therefore, we will take a very responsible approach to this issue. If we understand that the situation does not allow holding matches with spectators present, we will never do this just for the reason of solving some commercial issues.