Vladimir Zverov: "In Odessa at the railway station the PFL arbitrator was met by TCC representatives and taken away"

Journalist Vladimir Zverov told how one of the referees of the First and Second leagues was detained by the TCK.

"The PFL referee, who works on the matches of the First and Second leagues, was travelling to Odessa to referee the match of amateurs. In Odessa at the railway station he was met by representatives of the TCC and taken away. He spent a few days with them.

Then he was released, now he is already at home. But the story has become a precedent, which is already spoken about in the UAF. Because the referees have no reservation and there is no way to get one. Yes, the UAF is a critical infrastructure facility, which means it has the right to book 50% of its staff, but the arbitrators are not employees of this organisation, they cooperate with it as FOPs.

This situation is now, to put it mildly, stressing many arbitrators. It is unlikely to affect the UPL, but the referees of the First and Second leagues ask a lot of questions to their management and want to understand what will happen next, what is their status in the current realities. A total of 300 referees work in all leagues of Ukraine. If they are mobilised, we will have to look for their replacements somewhere," Zverov said on the air of the Youtube channel PROFUTBOL Digital.