The Referees Committee of the Slovak Football Association (KR SFZ) decided to punish Ivan Kružliak, who will not referee any Fortuna League (first division) matches until the end of the season. Due to his mistakes in last Sunday's match of the 19th round between AS Trenčín and Dunajska Streda, the committee suspended the FIFA referee for six matches, and then he will referee in the second division until the end of the season. The information was confirmed to RTVS by Marian Ružbarsky, the chairman of KR SFZ.
Kružliak incorrectly awarded a penalty kick in favor of Dunajska Streda during the added time of the match. The penalty kick was scored by Eric Ramirez and the match ended in a draw 3-3. "He will not be appointed for any match in the next six rounds of the first division and then will be re-assigned to the second division, in which he will work until the end of the spring season. He will be able to return to the top competition next season, if his performances will confirm his status. The referees Smolak and Očenaš have already received similar punishments for their mistakes in the past”, Ružbarsky told the futbalsfz.sk portal. Kružliak was appointed by the European Football Union (UEFA) to referee the first leg of the Round of 16 Europa League match between OSC Lille and Ajax Amsterdam. His suspension in Slovakia does not affect his ability to referee matches on the international scene in the current year. "We were simply notified by UEFA, which is autonomous in these matters”, explained Ružbarsky.
Source: Sport
