Football news

As Sport.ua has learned, Kateryna Monzul will not officiate at the women's football tournament of the 2024 Olympics in France, as previously planned.

According to the source, the Ukrainian decided to say goodbye to her career as a referee for various reasons and associates her future in football with the role of an arbitration observer.

On 25 May, Kateryna Monzul, who heads the UAF Referees Committee, will make her debut as an arbitration observer in the match of the 30th round of the UPL Championship between Obolon and Oleksandriya.

In the short term, Kateryna Monzul will represent Ukraine in this role on the international stage, as her predecessor in the UAF Arbitration Committee, Italian Luciano Luci, has done for many years.

Monzul has been repeatedly recognised as the best referee in Ukraine. In February 2024, she became the chairman of the Arbitration Committee, which had been headed by Italian Luciano Luci since 2015. Kateryna Monzul also joined the new UAF Executive Committee.

Ukrainian striker Ruslan Stepaniuk of Vorskla Poltava has left the team.

It is reported that Stepaniuk, Vorskla's top scorer this season, has already said goodbye to the team and left the club. The experienced player has an offer from Metalist 1925.

It will be recalled that Stepaniuk's agreement with Vorskla expires on 30 June 2024. This season, he scored ten goals and made four assists in 33 matches in all competitions.

Rukh midfielder Talles Brenner shared his expectations for the match on Matchday 30 against Dynamo Kyiv.

"Rukh is very motivated. We have the final match of the season ahead of us against one of the giants of Ukrainian football. I think that the game against Dynamo is the most important one this season and could be historic for the entire club.

It will be a tense and interesting match against a strong opponent. At the same time, everyone at Rukh believes that we can achieve a positive result and make club history by qualifying for the European Cup for the first time," said Brenner.

The head coach of Rukh Lviv, Vitaliy Ponomaryov, shared his expectations for the match of the 30th round of the Ukrainian championship against Dynamo Kyiv.

"Despite the fact that Rukh will be playing against one of the flagships of Ukrainian football, the team is preparing as usual. Of course, we have a very serious game ahead of us and the tournament position also adds to the responsibility. However, we will try to play our usual football and not deviate from our game principles. The team will play for victory, just like in every match before, because Rukh wants to get a positive result and will do everything in its power to achieve it.

Our players have shown qualitative growth and progress during the season. They proved that they can compete for the highest places in the Ukrainian league and still play an interesting game. Each of our guys understands the importance of the upcoming match with Dynamo and they are ready to give their all on Saturday for a positive result.

Perhaps this is one of the most interesting championships in recent times, because we can see how interesting the fight for European Cup places and for survival is, as well as the long fight for the championship - almost to the last rounds. It is very interesting for fans to watch such matches and intrigue. If there is such competition, the Ukrainian championship will only progress and the players will develop better and faster. Youngsters get a lot of playing time and over time, these players will gain the necessary experience and grow as professional footballers, which is very beneficial for Ukrainian football," Ponomarev said.

Currently, the UAF is making efforts to ensure that the players, coaching staff, and support staff receive the promised bonuses for winning tickets to the finals of the 2024 European Championships by June 3, when Serhiy Rebrov's wards will play a friendly match with the Germans in Nuremberg.

As it became known to Sport.ua, we are talking about payments of 30-40 thousand euros to each player, depending on his contribution to the success of the national team.

It will be recalled that before the start of Euro 2024, the Ukrainian national team will also play sparring matches with the Poles and Moldovans.

Oleksandriya midfielder Kyrylo Kovalets has extended his contract with the club, the club's official website reports.

It is reported that Kovalets' new contract with Oleksandriya runs until 31 May 2027.

Kovalets played 124 matches in the Ukrainian league for Oleksandriya, scoring 20 goals. He played 5 more matches in the Ukrainian Cup and 6 matches in the Europa League.

Genoa's Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinowski, who previously played for Atalanta, congratulated the Bergamo club on winning the Europa League.

"Best wishes and congratulations to the team, coach and all the people of Bergamo," Malinowski wrote on his Instagram page.

As a reminder, Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final.

UEFA President Alexander Čeferin has called Real Madrid President Florentino Perez an idiot and a racist. This was reported by The Objective, which published a correspondence between Ceferin and former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales in 2019.

According to the correspondence between the two officials, which was conducted on the Whatsapp messenger, Čeferin called Pérez an "idiot and a racist".

It was probably a conflict amid talk of creating a Super League. Perez is still a supporter of the introduction of this tournament, while Čeferin is against this idea, because the Super League would then be an independent organisation, without UEFA's involvement.

Rubiales: "I will talk to Perez. If La Liga president Javier Tebas and Florentino Perez go against me here in Spain, my situation will become unbearable. Let's think about what to do. He is a very proud man. I think we can try to talk and calm everyone down, but I will support you 100%. Don't worry about it."

Cheferin: "I don't want to talk to him. I'm only doing this for you. He's an idiot and a racist! You don't have to soften the situation for me, I don't need to. I just want you to stay strong."

As Sport.ua has learned, the UAF official delegation to the European Championships in Germany will include 29 officials, led by UAF President Andriy Shevchenko, First Vice President Pavlo Boichuk, Vice President Oleksandr Shevchenko and Secretary General Ihor Hryshchenko.

The delegation also includes 12 heads of regional football associations, including Vitaliy Kvartsyanyi, Ihor Hataulin, Viktor Mezheiko, Vasyl Orletsky, Taras Klym, Ihor Khiblin and others, the chairman of the Referees Committee Kateryna Monzul, and the chairman of the Footballers Status and Transfer Committee Yevheniia Yershova.

The UAF official delegation is scheduled to arrive in Germany on 16 June.

"West Ham has officially announced the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as the team's new head coach.

According to the press service of the English club, Lopetegui will start working with the team on 1 July.

"My ambition as a coach is to always be better and better, to achieve bigger and bigger goals, to encourage and improve the players, the team and to compete. football is all about competing," Lopetegui said.

Earlier, Lopetegui was in charge of the Spanish national team, Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolverhampton.

As Sport.ua has learned, Zorya's attacking leader, Panamanian international Eduardo Guerrero, will continue to play for the Luhansk team next season.

According to available information, despite the fact that Guerrero has scored 9 goals this season, FC Zorya has not received tempting offers for Guerrero from more famous clubs. In July last year, Zorya bought the Panamanian from Maccabi Tel Aviv for 500 thousand euros.

The other day, Guerrero received a call-up to the Panama national team, which will play matches in the Copa America at the end of June and therefore miss the start of Luhansk's preparation for the new season, which will take place in Slovenia.

But those who will definitely not play for Zorya are Danylo Alefirenko and Denys Nahnoinyi, whose contracts with Luhansk expire on 30 June 2024 and who are going to find jobs in other teams.

Earlier we reported that AZ Alkmaar had set its sights on Luhansk Zorya defender Arseniy Bagatov.

Ukrainian forward Daniel Kikinda of Dnipro-1 has attracted the interest of Premier League side Brentford.

According to the Camon Play telegram channel, Brentford is interested in Kikinda's transfer, as the English club liked the cooperation with Dnipro when signing Yegor Yarmolyuk. If the clubs reach an agreement, Kikinda will first go on a trial and play for Brentford's second team.

It is also known that, in addition to the English, Kikinda is also being watched by MLS representative Charlotte, who had already made an offer to the club in the winter, but then Dnipro refused, as they set themselves maximum goals.