The FFU Executive Committee session took place on Monday, July 19, and focused on a number of issues concerning the development of professional football in Ukraine.

Contract agreeing

The main point on the agenda for Monday's meeting were the changes in refereeing introduced by Pierluigi Collina. Earlier, Football Federation of Ukraine have appointed Collina as Ukrainian referees’ supervisor. The two-year agreement was announced some weeks ago with world’s five-times referee of the year now being in charge of reorganising and controlling Ukraine’s football refereeing system. After the EXCO’s members approved the agreement, Collina gave an in-depth guide of his first steps at a new post.

New structure

He, among other things, told about a new structure of FFU’s Referees Committee that was approved by the Executive Committee and supported by Ukrainian Premier League and Ukrainian Professional League’s presidents. It is now established that referee supervisors will be controlled by Referees Committee and alongside additional five commissions will be set up to oversee preparation, control and assessment of match officials; oversee preparation, control and assessment of referee assistants; oversee preparation and assessment of referee supervisors; oversee preparation of referee educators, referee assistants and referee supervisors; oversee preparation and fitness control of referees and referee assistants.

Absolute independence

Collina accentuated once more that referee's instance will have absolute independence from the Executive Committees of FFU, UFPL, PFL and properly from the clubs itself. He also said that it is important to revise the disciplinary sanctions as to the referees and their assistants. Now there is a norm according to which a referee or his assistants automatically go to the lower league in a case of effective mistakes in two matches.

Correcting mistakes

At the same time Pierluigi Collina didn’t give any reasons to have doubts as to his adherence to principles and strictness, which he has already put into practice as to the referees. In particular, the referees, who made some gross mistakes during the first two rounds, were pushed aside from refereeing in the nearest rounds of the Ukrainian Premier League.