The highlighted dilemma – why will a referee from the Ljubljana area officiate the eternal derby? In Maribor, they do not want to burden themselves with this
Photo: Vid Ponikvar / Sportida
In Slovenia, a country that can be crossed in a few hours, people tend to divide and – if you will – pigeonhole themselves. Someone lives on the left, someone on the right, there are actually no real differences between us, yet we constantly find reasons to dislike each other, to argue. Football is no exception. And in football, an interesting practice has been present for years: this referee is not suitable for a certain club because his house is too close to the stadium. Ahead of the 156th Eternal Derby between Olimpija and Maribor, some media have focused on Martin Matoša due to this.
The young referee, at his twenty-eight, will officiate in his first Eternal Derby, and for some, the most controversial aspect is that he hails from Log pri Brezovici. The latter is about 20 kilometers away from the Stožice stadium, and for some, this is strong evidence that Martin Matoša is apparently a fan of Olimpija… The only real debate would, of course, be whether Martin Matoša at twenty-eight is actually at a high enough level for the Eternal Derby, but considering that he has been an international referee since this year, the answer probably should not be a subject of debate. However, all doubts aside, in Maribor, before heading to Ljubljana, they emphasized that they actually … do not burden themselves with the choice of referee.
“Do we have influence over who will referee? We accept the decision and respect it. I never think about it before the match, but only about my team and the purpose of presenting the best image on the field. My opinion on the choice of referee is not important. I don’t want to waste energy on things I can’t control. I agree that the best should referee, but I cannot influence that,” said Maribor coach Ante Šimundža, avoiding the controversy that arose in public before the derby, which, truth be told, doesn’t decide anything.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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1. SNL
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