Taras Stepanenko: "That's why Ukrainian arbitrators don't judge almost anything in Europe, it's their level"

Shakhtar captain Taras Stepanenko shared his thoughts on Ukrainian refereeing after the 1-1 Ukrainian league match with Rukh.

- We have the whole of Ukraine... The team loses - the referee is immediately to blame. But there is a VAR, we watched it. I don't know, from our side - there was no red card. On the referee's side, there was. He makes the decision.

I think we need to avoid such mistakes. This is the 4th or 5th red card. It's a lot of workload. After Germany, many people came back with colds or viruses, half of the team was not feeling well.

- Did you also run up to the referee, weren't you afraid to worsen the red card statistics?

- No, I wasn't afraid. I didn't say anything bad, I was just emotional. The foul he whistled was just horrible. That's how it is. I don't want to say anything about the referees. They demonstrate this level themselves. That's why they don't referee almost anything in Europe. This is their level.

And we want our country and players to play in Europe. And when Ukraine is in the EU, we want football to develop. And to develop, we need to do it at all levels. Not just the players. The refereeing panel and coaches as well. If we think about making me feel good today, it won't get better tomorrow.