Ukrainian boxing champion has claims against governing bodies over Serbian refereeing at match involving Ukrainian club
Ukrainian champion WBA, WBO, WBC and IBO heavyweight boxer and part-time player Polesia Alexander Usik harshly commented on the refereeing in his team’s return match against Slovenia Olympia in the second qualifying round Conference Leagues.
“Is sport fair? Of course not. Life is unfair in general. There is no justice in the world, you have to fight for it.”
“When you are not allowed to work and they help another team, then… I never complain about referees, but this line-up of Serbian referees was very disgusting. UEFA needs to pay attention to the fact that the Serbs have a biased attitude towards us, Ukrainians, because they support our enemy. Does UEFA not see this or are they blinded by money? Look at what is happening – the referee is judging in one direction.”
“No question, he is a professional referee, I am not a football referee. But, UEFA, open your eyes. If you need money, call, I will give you money.”
“It’s easier for me when I’m in the ring because I control the situation. Here, I can’t control the situation. On the field, the guys control the situation. I’m only worried because I can’t control the situation. The guys gave it their all, pressed well. I think the coach will have his say. But I’ll say it again that this group of referees is disgusting. They helped the opponents play better. He gave the coaches yellow cards, let him come to the stands and give us more yellow cards.”
Polesie, having lost the away match to Olimpia with a score of 0:2, opened the scoring in the return match (the match took place in Polish Gliwice) already in the 40th second, but failed to develop the advantage. The visitors quickly equalized, and at the very end scored the winning goal. As a result, the Wolves lost again with a score of 1:2 and finished their debut European Cup season.
The match was officiated by a Serbian team led by Milos Milanovic. Interestingly, under the same referee, Vorskla was eliminated by AIK in the LC qualification in 2022.
Earlier, before the first match against Partizan in the Champions League qualification, Dynamo refused all official events with the Serbian club, which had previously traveled to the “brotherly” tournament in Moscow. The coach of the Belgrade club, Aleksandar Stanojevic, said that “Partizan has had a paternal relationship with Moscow’s CSKA for decades.” As a result, the Kiev team defeated its opponent twice – 6:2 and 3:0.
The day before, on July 31, 37-year-old Usyk took part in an open training session of the Zhytomyr team. Let us recall that Oleksandr signed a contract with Poliesie in the summer of 2023, but since then he has not made his debut for the club from Zhytomyr in an official match.
In the 2024 European season, Ukraine will be represented by Shakhtar (Champions League general round), Dynamo (Champions League qualification) and Kryvbas (Europa League qualification).
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
