Czech league referees: Sparta should have played with ten men vs Baník

The referees’ commission of the Czech Football League has reviewed the disputed incidents of the latest round and concluded that Sparta should have been reduced to ten men in the match against Baník, and that Slavia striker Tomáš Chorý was rightly shown a red card for an offensive gesture. The verdicts on four incidents are in the commission’s review.

Red card for the middle finger

In Slavia’s match against Hradec Králové (0:0), Chorý lay on the pitch for a long time after a collision with Tomáš Petrášek and then, outraged by the assessment of the incident, showed referee Jan Všetečka the middle finger. The referee noticed it and sent the forward off. The commission confirmed that the red card was the right decision, since the home player made an offensive gesture towards the referee.

Goals that were disallowed

Liberec lost 0:1 in Olomouc partly because none of its three goals was allowed to stand. One of them was a goal by Matěj Mikulenka, a former Sigma player, in the 52nd minute. It was preceded by a collision between goalkeeper Jan Koutný and Lukáš Masopust, which VAR judged to be a foul against the goalkeeper. In the commission’s view, the attacker jumped into the goalkeeper as he was catching the ball in mid-air, instead of jumping with him; the VAR decision was correct.

In the match between Baník and Sparta (0:0), the hosts could have taken the lead as early as the eighth minute: Jiří Boula shot from the edge of the penalty area, and the ball bounced past goalkeeper Jakub Surovčík. But Vít Škrkoň was standing in front of the goalkeeper, seven centimetres offside. His leg movement allowed the ball to fly towards the goal and was judged to be interference with play. The commission called the referee’s decision correct and added that the distance to the goalkeeper, the trajectory of the ball, the goalkeeper’s line of sight and the movement of the attacker’s leg are all taken into account.

Sparta could have played with ten men

Another incident from the same match: Sparta defender Ki-Jana Hoever, while trying to get past Filip Kubala, awkwardly stepped on his foot, and he already had a yellow card. Referee Dalibor Černý did not punish the player, and Sparta stayed at full strength. In the commission’s opinion, a free kick should have been awarded and a yellow card shown, which would have been Hoever’s second. VAR could not intervene: under the protocol, it cannot recommend a review of an incident that warrants only a yellow card.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz