In the 1/8 final match of the Ukrainian Cup between Shakhtar and Zorya, which ended with a 1:0 victory for the miners, in the 80th minute referee Denis Shurman made a very controversial decision – he sent off Zorya’s player Eskin’ya for a tackle against an opponent.
Sergey ShebekUA-Football asked referee expert, former FIFA referee Sergey Shebek, for a comment. He believes that the referee made a mistake:
— It was interesting to read the comment from Zorya's head coach Mladen Bartulović after this match. Here’s what the coach from Luhansk said: “The referee generally did well, but at a crucial moment in the game, he gave us a red card. It wasn’t a red in that episode. It was at most a yellow.” I completely agree that it should have been a yellow. However, I disagree with the statement that the referee did well. A referee cannot do well if he mistakenly dismisses a player. So, what happened?
Eskinja came from the front (which is very important, not from behind, not from the side) with a tackle in front of the Shakhtar player. First, he played the ball, and then through inertia, his leg rose up after the ball and subsequently touched Bondarenko’s ankle. Shurman was obstructed by a Zorya player and did not see this moment in detail. Moreover, he was influenced by the emotions of other Shakhtar players, who began to appeal to him. That’s how he made the wrong decision. And since there was no VAR at the match, there was no one to suggest the mistake. At most, this episode merits a yellow card. I want to note that Shurman is a very weak referee, who does not understand the essence of football, and is unfamiliar with the battles, which is important for a referee. He has consistent mistakes and problems in the championship every year. These are our FIFA referees.
And now let’s find the difference in the episode from another match that took place three days ago in Kyiv. I mean the championship match between Dynamo and Shakhtar. The referee on the field is Balakin, and attention, the VAR referee is Shurman. Shakhtar player Enrique rolled into Timchik in an even harsher manner than Eskinja, and received only a yellow card. And here too, one can support Balakin’s decision. But if Shurman in Lviv did not hesitate to pull out a red card from his pocket, why does he quietly sit in the booth in Kyiv and not call the referee to review the moment? What’s the difference? Two identical moments, but two different decisions. In one case, Shurman gives a red card, in the other – only a yellow. It shouldn’t be like that.
