Expert, former FIFA referee Myroslav Stupar assessed the refereeing in the central match of the 11th round of the Ukrainian championship "Dynamo" — "Shakhtar" (1:1).
— One can say about the good work of the referee. In the first half, he showed his principle towards violations, and in the second half, he immediately reacted to Krytskiy’s rough foul with a red card. And this is very fair. He was close, clearly saw this intentional jump into the legs from behind, and reacted instantly. After that, the players understood that any serious violation of the rules would be punished strictly. During the match, there were misses of minor violations, but they did not affect the course of the game. The main thing is that the referee was not noticeable on the field, and his actions did not provoke obstruction from the players. And he made this clear when he showed Zubkov a warning for disagreeing with the referee's decision in the first half. The players of both teams understood that there was no need to talk to the referee unnecessarily.
— It can be stated that sometimes the appointment of a referee for a match without a draw benefits football, as it happened in this case with Balakin?
— If necessary, one should be guided by reason. For such important matches, there should not be a draw, but direct appointments. It is necessary to take into account the level of the teams, the principle, and most importantly — the qualification of the referee. If the referee corresponds to his FIFA category level, then it does not matter that Balakin is from Kyiv himself, and he is refereeing "Dynamo" — "Shakhtar" in the center of the capital. The level of the match should correspond to the level of refereeing, which Balakin also demonstrated.
Serhiy Shebek