As part of the 4th round of the Champions League stage of the 2024/2025 season, which will take place on November 6, the match between the Czech "Sparta" and the French "Brest" will for the first time in history be staffed entirely by a Ukrainian refereeing team. This is an important step for Ukrainian football, which emphasizes the growing authority of Ukrainian referees in the international arena.
The match will start at 22:00 Kyiv time, and the main referee will be Mykola Balakin. Oleksandr Berkut and Dmytro Zaporozhenko will help him on the lines. Vitaly Romanov will perform the duties of the fourth referee, and the responsibility for the operation of the VAA system (video assistant referee) will fall on Oleksiy Derevynskyi and Denis Shurman.
Previously, Ukrainian referees have officiated matches of the group stage of the Champions League twice, but this match will be historic, as the team will consist entirely of Ukrainians. Important stages on the way to this were the matches of 1998 and 2023, when Ukrainians participated in international matches.
