"Matvienko had the right to shoot like that" - Stupar on Shakhtar's scandalous goal against Veres

The formerly famous referee Miroslav Stupar gave his assessment of the scandalous episode of yesterday's Veres vs Shakhtar match of the 2nd round of the Ukrainian championship (1-1).

It will be recalled that during the time compensated by the referee before the first half, the Miners were awarded a free kick at the Veres goal. The match's chief referee, Oleksandr Shandor, immediately stood in front of the ball and raised his hand, holding the whistle. From the outside, it looked as if he had given the command that the free kick should be taken after his whistle. But as soon as the referee stepped away from the ball, Shakhtar defender Mykola Matvienko opened the scoring with an accurate shot into the empty net - the Veres goalkeeper was far from the goal at that moment and was planning to put up a wall before the shot.

- Comment on the actions of the head referee Oleksandr Shandor during Matvienko's goal against Veres.

- Shandor took the wrong position at the time of the free kick. He shouldn't have stood in front of the ball, with his back to the goal, not controlling what was happening in the penalty area.

His raised hand with the whistle blowing from the sidelines suggests that there should have been a blow on the whistle in this episode. But Matvienko scored without it.

The referee should not raise his hand just like that, when he raises his hand, it is a gesture that means we will blow the whistle. He just didn't think this moment through.

But Veres didn't try to put up a wall either. In fact, the whistle blowing is used to move the defensive players nine metres away from the ball so that the attacking team can take a shot. The coach always calls a player in the set-up who should stand in front of the ball and prevent the opponent from quickly taking a free kick, and the referee will move you away if the situation requires. But here I did not see such a step from Veres players, their behaviour was passive.

- So it turns out that Shandor didn't break the rules of football, but he did something wrong?

- Yes, methodically he did something wrong, he violated the recommendations. Because there are gestures that should not be commented on. This gesture is a hand up, so there should have been a blow on the whistle. These are unspoken rules, because the football rules do not say so. In fact, these are guidelines.

He stood in front of the ball, raised his hand with the whistle in the air, and then what? The referee had to do it from the outside, to see what the players wanted.

In the UPL, very few players use the moment of surprise, i.e. shooting from the penalty spot not when the wall is being put up, but doing it quickly. Moreover, at that moment it was already the end of the first half, and time was running out. But Shakhtar's player (Matvienko) did it and took the opponents by surprise.

"Our problem is that the referees are used to the idea that the penalty area is a wall, nine metres... And the players know that you can play quickly, and reading such moments in the game gives the referee the opportunity to take a position in the right place, not in front of the ball. Matvienko had the right to shoot like that, but Sandor should not have been in the place where he was.

- Do they usually give penalties in such situations?

- I didn't see that there should have been a whistle blow in the situation. There was no wall, Past went out of the goal in the wrong direction, there was no Veres player in front of the ball, and Matvienko realised this and took advantage.

- After the match, Mykola Matvienko said that Shandor had asked him whether he was going to kick on the whistle or not, and the Shakhtar player replied that he would kick without the whistle.

- The referee should not ask the players whether they will blow the whistle or not. It is up to him to decide depending on the situation.

- Can there be any punishment for Shandor for this episode?

- This situation should be reviewed by the referees' committee. Let's listen to what Luciano Lucchi or Rosetti have to say from Italy. We are so stupid that we do not have our own specialists, but use consultants from foreign countries, although they have not given anything to the refereeing for more than 12 years.

Andriy Shevchenko