The head coach of Obolon Kyiv, Serhiy Shyshchenko, has spoken out about refereeing in Ukrainian league matches.
Sergiy Shishchenko. Photo: Obolon’s press service"I always respect the referees. I have been playing football for a long time. I have seen a lot and understand how they worked in the 90s, 2000s and now. You understand when the referees help, but after 30 years of independent Ukraine, you already have a bunch of assistants and the VAR system, which gives you all the modern options to assess the situation from different angles and start coming up with certain interpretations of the rules. They give one way, they don't give another. I just don't understand why this mess is happening.
The presence of Ms. Monzul (Kateryna Monzul, head of the UAF Referees Committee - ed.), who could go public and give her assessment, is lacking in the information space.
It seems to me that it depends on the level of qualification of the judges. I'll even give you an interesting example. Do you remember the match between Minaj and Polissia (2-3)? Paskhal gave us a penalty kick. When we looked at VAR and told him to watch the episode involving a Minaj player and Kravets. Minaj's player was holding his face, writhing in pain, but Paskhal saw on the monitor that Kravets had poked Semotiuk's arm in that episode. And I wouldn't have done it in the referee's place either.
It seems to me that the referees themselves are confused in their interpretations. In such controversial moments, all the responsibility should be on the chief referee, who must take responsibility," Ukrainian Football quoted Shyshchenko as saying .
