"Popov was given two matches of suspension, while Bondarenko was given one for the same offence" - commercial director of Dnipro

Dnipro-1 Commercial Director Vyacheslav Fridman shared the details of the meeting of the UPL club presidents that took place on 20 September.

- Viacheslav Yevhenovych, tell us how the meeting took place, who initiated it?

- We were gathered by Hennadii Vladyslavovych Butkevych (president of Polissia - ed.). "Polissia only entered the UPL this season, and he just wanted to get to know everyone. This is a normal desire for a person who came to football at a late age and wanted to understand it from the inside by talking to his colleagues who also invest in the sport. In the first eight rounds, Butkevich has already understood the main problems in Ukrainian football.

- Do you mean refereeing?

- Yes, and the influence of the UAF on it. Gennadiy Vladyslavovych wanted the clubs to be represented not by second or third parties, but by people who actually invested money. But not all those invited came. Some are abroad, some are in prison, I mean Chornomorets(the club's owners Kaufman and Granovsky are under arrest - ed.)

Akhmetov (Rinat Akhmetov, the president of Shakhtar - ed.) said he would come next time, but we don't know if he will or if he will answer like that again. The president of Obolon would have been 100 per cent, but he had a fever. Kozlovsky (Hryhoriy Kozlovsky, president of Rukh - ed.) promised, but for some reason he did not come. That is, there were no outrageous presidents and investors who could have made interesting suggestions and recommendations.

- What did you come to in the end with regard to the judiciary?

- There were questions about the appointment of referees, the HAC, so that clubs do not show interest in arbitrarily rewarding referees. We also want to remove all Italians from Ukrainian refereeing: Luci, Rizzoli. We have enough competent former referees in Ukraine who are worthy of holding these positions.

In addition, the issue of lie-detector testing our judges from time to time was raised. This is a normal phenomenon. All the club presidents are business owners, and they said that lie detectors are used very often in businesses.

- How do you see the use of lie detectors for arbitrators?

- The question was raised that this should happen every six months or when a referee makes blatant mistakes in a match. Everyone can make mistakes, referees are people too, we don't say that a striker is corrupt if he doesn't score into an empty net from three metres. Everyone has the right to make a mistake.

It would be nice to create a rating of Ukrainian referees, so that after a few mistakes, the referee would go down in the table and publicly report on his controversial decisions in the match.

Club presidents want to make referees public - to make them accountable. This is what Luci was turning a blind eye to by banning referees from commenting.

In Poland and the Netherlands, referees are in the public eye. But this issue is resolved only at the level of the Federations.

- To what extent is it possible for you to change this, given that referees in Ukraine are not subordinate to the UPL but directly to the UAF?

- That's absolutely right. Some reputable club presidents who have been in football for many years have suggested that referees should be removed from the UAF. The Football Association should not deal with referees, but with national teams of all ages, amateur football and the promotion of the sport. This is their area of expertise, not referees.

- What needs to be done to get the referees out of the UAF's control?

- The decision is made at the UAF meeting. Unfortunately, clubs have only three votes out of 44 when voting at the UAF Conference. At the meeting, many people were outraged about this - that people who directly invest in football have no votes and have no influence on anything. Although they should be listened to. If someone loses the desire to invest their own money in football, who will ultimately suffer?

- Does Luci ever appear in Ukraine?

- As far as I know from rumours, he works remotely from Italy. His contract expires in October, and it simply does not need to be extended. This is not a problem, given his age(74 years old - ed.) and remoteness. This is what needs to be done first and foremost - to change Luci.

No one is satisfied with the reforms made by the Italians. Last year, the championship ended with refereeing scandals, and the new season also started with scandals. Surkis gave examples of different interpretations of the same episodes.

- Which ones?

- Dynamo defender Popov was sent off in the first round and given a two-match suspension, while Shakhtar's Bondarenko was given a one-match suspension for the same offence. And there are many such episodes.

- Do you see anyone in particular to replace Luca?

- So far, this issue has not been discussed. The presidents said that we have enough qualified referees who will soon finish their careers and can take up this position.

- Why didn't they invite people from the UAF to the meeting, since referees are their area of expertise?

- The first meeting was initiated more to introduce club owners and investors.

Butkevych again proposed to meet on 14-17 October, when the national team will play. By that time, Nadein should have all the problematic issues on paper. Perhaps we will draw up a collective letter from club presidents to the President's Office, or invite the national team coach Rebrov to one of the meetings, who should also be interested in solving problems in Ukrainian football.

- How to solve the issue of bribing referees by clubs?

- This issue is quite easy to solve. It is necessary that a HACC referee, for example, should receive not 16 thousand, from which then it will be necessary to deduct money for travel and hotel accommodation, but 50-80 thousand. The chief arbitrator should receive 120 thousand instead of 40 thousand. Why corrupt this business if we can all chip in and create a fund that will help judges receive decent salaries and fear for their jobs?

- You can deduct it from Lucha's salary. I read that he receives more than 10 thousand euros a month.

- More than 10 thousand euros, and according to rumours, at the end of the championship, judges are given 30 and 50 thousand. It's hard to resist. That's why referees need to be paid a decent salary and be afraid that bribes can make them quit football at a young age.

- I also heard that the meeting raised the issue of sending a letter to UEFA to request that Ukraine receive the solidarity payments that were due to be paid to the disqualified Russia.

- Yes, this was proposed by Nadein or Karamanits, and everyone unanimously supported this proposal.

- What did you come up with regarding the TV pool?

- This year's tele-pool fell apart primarily due to a lack of time. The project started to be developed only in July this year and many clubs were unable to reach a common agreement. "At that time, Dnipro-1, Dynamo and Zorya had already signed contracts with the 1+1 group of channels.

All the club presidents were not against a single TV pool, but it required an equidistant broadcaster. Many people don't like Megogo - they are close to some, but not to others. There should be an equidistant UPL-TV.

- As far as I understand, Dnipro-1, Dynamo and Zorya are ready to join the TV pool next season?

- Let's consider this option. Analysing the situation, we see that football is not watched much in Ukraine. This issue will accelerate the early end of the war and the recovery of the Ukrainian economy. It is not practical to simply create UPL-TV so that clubs continue to pay for the creation of content without earning anything.

So far, I don't see any way for the clubs to make money from a single TV pool, unless some sponsor comes along and gives them money. It is currently impossible to get enough subscribers to fill the club's budget with any money. Nowadays, we hear ridiculous numbers - 20-40 thousand. This is not what we need.

- For how long has Dnipro-1 signed a contract with 1+1?

- We have signed a long-term agreement, but if the parties mutually wish, there will be no problems joining the TV pool. The issue can be resolved.

Andriy Piskun