A consultant to the UAF Referees Committee believes that the referees made a mistake in an important episode of the central match of the 12th round of the UPL
Renowned former Italian arbitrator and arbitration consultant Committee of Referees of the Ukrainian Football Association, Nicola Rizzoli believes that the judges should have awarded a penalty in the key episode of the 12th round Ukrainian Premier League between Polesie And Alexandria (0:1).
“A very complex and contradictory situation to analyze. The referee, although in a good position, does not see the contact of the hand with the ball, since it is covered by the bodies of the players, and this does not allow him to assess the position of the defender’s hand, which is very wide. Both players are fighting for the ball flying from a long distance, but the defender of Alexandria No. 26 takes a risk, moving his hand to a position when the striker Polesie No. 80 is trying to shoot at goal.”
“The situation is very controversial and not easy to assess, also due to the quality of the image, which does not allow the point of contact to be clearly identified, but the dynamics of the ball flight give the clear impression that this game situation is subject to punishment.”
“Despite the presence of images that do not allow us to clarify the situation 100%, since on many cameras the image is unclear or the ball is not visible, the video assistant referee had to recommend viewing on the field, since from his position the chief referee could not see important elements, since his covered the players’ bodies. Watching the field was appropriate to be able to evaluate the entire game situation (hand position, point of contact, dynamics) in order to make the right decision.”
Let us remind you that during stoppage time for the second half, the ball hit the hand of Alexandria defender Miguel Campos in the hosts’ penalty area. The team of referees turned to the video replay for help, but as a result, no penalty was awarded, and Alexandria inflicted the first defeat on Polesie in this UPL draw.
Polesie wrote an open letter to the UAF expressing dissatisfaction with the actions of the referee team. The UAF responded promptly, making the negotiations between chief referee Alexander Shandor and VAR referee Roman Blavatsky on the episode in question public. As a result, Polesie accused both judges of “criminal negligence, which radically influenced the final result of the match and, as a consequence, the course of the championship.”
The Zhytomyr club called on colleagues from the UPL to support the initiative for a face-to-face meeting of the clubs with the UAF arbitration consultant Nicola Rizzoli and the chairman of the UAF refereeing corps Ekaterina Monzul “to discuss pressing issues regarding the decisions of the referees, which arose in large numbers throughout the beginning of this season and had an impact on the result “
Polesie ranks fourth in the UPL. Alexandria shares first place in the Ukrainian Championship with Dynamo.
Source: Sportarena
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