The 2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 21st since its establishment and fourth since its reorganisation. The season began on 8 July 2011 when newly promoted PFC Oleksandria visited FC Vorskla Poltava.[2]FC Shakhtar Donetsk were the defending champions, having won their 6th league title in the 2010–11 season and they successfully defended their title by winning the championship in the last round of the competition.[3][4]
A total of sixteen teams participated in the league, the best fourteen sides of the 2010–11 season and two promoted clubs from the 2010–11 Ukrainian First League.
The competition had a winter break which began on 11 December 2011 and the season resumed on 3 March 2012. The season concluded on 10 May 2012.[1]
^(1)Mircea Lucescu was injured in a car accident in his native Bucharest on 6 January 2012. Two days later he was operated on because of blood in his chest and broken ribs.[17]
Qualification to European competitions for 2012–13
Since Ukraine finished in eighth place of the UEFA country ranking after the 2010–11 season,[32] the league will have the same number of qualifiers for 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. The Ukrainian Cup winner qualifies for the play-off round.
Qualified teams
After the 22nd Round, Dynamo Kyiv qualified for European football for the 2012–13 season.[33]
During the 23rd Round, Shakhtar Donetsk qualified for European football for the 2012–13 season.[34]
During the 25th Round, Metalist Kharkiv qualified for European football for the 2012–13 season.[35]
^ abBetween Round 26 and Round 28 Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk had accumulated the same number of points. With the possibility that both teams could finish the competition on the same number of points, the administration of the Premier League decided on 2 May 2012 before Round 29, that if a Golden Match was to be played to decide the championship winner, the encounter would have taken place on 13 May 2012 in Zaporizhzhia at Slavutych Arena.[38]
^ abOn 12 August 2010, the Football Federation of Ukraine punished Metalist Kharkiv and Karpaty Lviv for fixing a match in 2008; both teams were handed a fine and deducted nine points each.[39] The FFU then released a statement on 19 October 2010 that the point deductions will be applied for the 2011–12 season.[40] However, Karpaty Lviv have indicated that they will take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) at Lausanne.[40] No action had been taken through the season nor of any decision by the league. On 2 August 2013 CAS acknowledged the fact of game fixing between Karpaty and Metalist in 2008. The court did not approve points deduction for both of the clubs, yet suggested to have Metalist stripped of its bronze awards for the 2007–08 Ukrainian Premier League and number of players and staff from both clubs were posed penalties and fines for involvement in the game fixing. On 6 August 2013 UEFA suspended advancement of Metalist Kharkiv in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League to the playoff round until its final decision on 13 August 2013.[41]
^ abcMetalurh Donetsk qualified for the Europa League as losing finalist of the 2011–12 Ukrainian Cup to Champions League-qualified Shakhtar Donetsk. Moreover, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Arsenal Kyiv were moved up a round as the cup winner spot was not used.
Round by round
The following table represents the teams position after each round in the competition.
Source: uafootball.net.ua Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Notes:
^Originally the Round 21 fixture was cancelled due to condition of the pitch at Lokomotiv Stadium.[42] Match was rescheduled and played on 24 April 2012.
^Епіцентр Чемпіонат України. 17 тур. Матч № 135 [Epicenter Ukrainian Championship Round 17 Match 135]. Ukraine Premier League (in Ukrainian). pfl.ua. 20 November 2011. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011. РСК "Олімпійський", Донецьк (RSK Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Donetsk, Zorya vs. Metalist
^Епіцентр Чемпіонат України. 1 тур. Матч № 2 [Epicenter Ukrainian Championship Round 1 Match 2]. Ukraine Premier League (in Ukrainian). pfl.ua. 11 July 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2011. "Динамо" ім. Валерія Лобановського, Київ (VVLobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv Arsenal vs. Dnipro
^Епіцентр Чемпіонат України. 2 тур. Матч № 15 [Epicenter Ukrainian Championship Round 2 Match 15]. Ukraine Premier League (in Ukrainian). pfl.ua. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011. "Динамо" ім. Валерія Лобановського, Київ (VVLobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv Arsenal vs. Illichevets
^Епіцентр Чемпіонат України. 4 тур. Матч № 31 [Epicenter Ukrainian Championship Round 4 Match 41]. Ukraine Premier League (in Ukrainian). pfl.ua. 31 July 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011. "Динамо" ім. Валерія Лобановського, Київ (VVLobanovsky Dynamo Stadium, Kyiv Arsenal vs. Shakhtar
^Розпочато роботи з прошивки поля [Work has begun on resewing turf]. Official Metalist website (in Ukrainian). 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.