At today's match between FC Vardar and FC AP Brera, the refereeing team was led by our new international referee Stojanche Trpchevski, who has been one of the leading referees in the league for several years, with very good refereeing performances and consistency in the interpretation of the Laws of the Game. Such was the case at today's match, which he managed authoritatively and confidently, without a single yellow card being issued.
Unfortunately, in the 90+4th minute of the match, the need and purpose of introducing and applying VAR technology was once again confirmed. In a situation where the main referee, due to his position and viewing angle, could not notice an obvious and punishable handball by the defender of FC AP Brera, after an extremely quick and accurate check by VAR referee Nikola Kostenchev, who determined clear and obvious evidence, a correct and timely intervention was made.
Thus, the correct decision was made – a penalty kick was awarded to FC Vardar, due to playing with a hand that is not supporting, but is in an unnatural position and separated from the body, which causes the defender to increase the volume of his body when blocking the shot.
The referees' panel gave an overall positive assessment of the refereeing performance in the match, with particular emphasis on the excellent and timely VAR intervention.
