From 28 January to 1 February, the 32nd FIFA Elite Referee Training Course was held in Cyprus.
Ukraine was represented by Mykola Balakin, who is a first-category international referee. For several days, leading football referees shared their experience and got acquainted with the latest innovations in the rules.
In the autumn of 2023, Balakin became the first Ukrainian referee in 25 years to referee a match of the main stage of the most prestigious club tournament in Europe, the Champions League. Our compatriot worked on the match of the 5th round of the group stage between Spanish Real Sociedad and Austrian Salzburg, recording a dry draw.
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Мабудь Кобзар крізь віки бачив.
Німець скаже: «Ви моголи»,
«Моголи, моголи!»
Золотого Тамерлана Онучата голі.
Німець скаже: «Ви слов’яни»,
«Слов’яни! слов'яни!»
Славних прадідів великих Правнуки погані!
Цитата з поеми Т. Г. Шевченка «І мертвим, і живим...» (1845).