© EuroFootball.com
During the seventh round of matches in the "A League" between defending Lithuanian champions "Kaunas" and Panevezys "Ekranas," one of the best Lithuanian referees, Paulius Malžinskas, who received criticism from the camp of Kaunas residents, received a negative assessment from the match inspector and may be forced to stop refereeing for a month.
After the recent duel between the leaders of the "A League" in Kaunas, which ended in a 1-1 draw, FIFA category referee P. Malžinskas from the "Kaunas" team faced criticism from coach Angelo Červenka for not awarding a penalty kick to "Ekranas" for a handball, as well as for sending off the home team's captain and top scorer, Ričardas Beniušis, with a yellow card.
"I want to say that during this match we had to fight not only with the "Ekranas" footballers, but also with the referees. The referee did not award a penalty kick to the opponents, although he had to do so. He did not want to see what the "Ekranas" player did. Furthermore, he sent off our captain from the field. These are not our problems, but the referees' problems," said the specialist from Bulgaria expressing dissatisfaction openly after the match.
Although P. Malžinskas was appointed to referee the match between Vilnius "Žalgiris" and "Vilnius" on Tuesday, Gediminas Mažeika appeared on the field in his place.
"The reason is simple - Malžinskas received a negative assessment for the match between "Kaunas" and "Ekranas" from the match inspector," - answered Jonas Braga, the president of the Lithuanian Football Referees Association (LFTA), when asked about the decision.
Asked to clarify what led to the negative assessment, J. Braga replied: "The penalty kick of eleven meters was not awarded to "Ekranas."
"Such an assessment does not automatically prevent refereeing for a month," explained the LFTA president. "The decision to change could only be made if Malžinskas were to file an appeal. Then it would be considered by the commission and, if no mistakes were found, it could be revoked."
When asked if P. Malžinskas intends to challenge the decision, J. Braga replied negatively: "He said he does not plan to appeal and admitted his mistake."
However, P. Malžinskas himself told EuroFootball.com that he has not made any decisions yet and refrained from further comments: "I have not yet decided on submitting an appeal. Until I receive a report from the match inspector, I would not like to comment further."
