The Committee of Referees of the Ukrainian Football Association explained the interpretation of controversial game episodes of the match of the 24th round of the 2023/2024 Ukrainian Championship Oleksandriya - Dynamo.
"Oleksandriya vs Dynamo . The referee is Oleksii Derevynskyi. VAA - Igor Paskhal.
45 mins.
Player No. 9 (Dynamo), trying to play with his head, uses his arm (elbow), striking the opponent's face. This is a clearly dangerous (reckless) action that should be punished by a foul and a yellow card should be issued.
The VAA makes a silent check, as there is no red card involved in such situations (there is no excessive force in the attacker's actions).
64 mins.
Player No. 4 (Alexandria) loses control of the ball due to an unsuccessful back pass (attempted with his right foot) and loses his footing, at which point forward No. 6 (Dynamo) tackles him in a fair manner without committing a foul. It should be emphasised that the referee is in full control of the situation and is at the optimum distance. Technically, it should be taken into account that the attacker's foot (No. 6) has already taken a position in front of the opponent (the foot is completely on the ground) and that it is No. 4 who touches the Dynamo player by the back of his boot. For these reasons, no foul was correctly awarded in this situation.
For the above reasons, we do not expect the VAR system to intervene in this case. This action (although it may have some debatable issues) certainly cannot be considered a mistake and the PAP referee correctly upheld his initial decision on the pitch.