"He tried to take his foot away" - UAF's commentary on Zubkov's sending off

The UAF Referees Committee has released a commentary on the sending off of Oleksandr Zubkov in the match of the 24th round of the Ukrainian championship between Vorskla and Shakhtar.

"Vorskla vsShakhtar. Thereferee is Oleksandr Omelchenko. VAA - Denys Shurman.

56 mins.

Player No. 11 (Shakhtar) does not take into account the goalkeeper's exit from the goal and, trying to play ahead, does not have time to move his foot, which hits the goalkeeper in the face. The speed with which the attacker approached the goal makes this dynamic of fighting dangerous for the opponent. We must remember that one of the main purposes of the rules of the game, and therefore of the referee, is to protect the players and, in particular, the goalkeepers in their own goal area when they are on the ground to defend their goal. For this reason, the red card should be considered correct.

This visual dynamic (slow motion) can reduce the intensity of the contact, as there is no speed at which the attacker is approaching the goalkeeper. At the same time, we can see the player trying to move his foot away to avoid the inevitable contact. For this reason, we can assess this intervention as marginal (on the monitor screen) and do not expect the VAA to intervene in the case of either a red card or a yellow card.