Alexander Gvardis, a member of the Expert Referee Commission of the Russian Football Union, discussed the decision to overturn the red card shown to CSKA defender Willian Roshi during the 28th round of the Russian Premier League. The comments were reported by Sport Express.
Gvardis explained that if the line judge had raised the flag immediately after Sobolev’s action, the referee Karasev would have resolved the matter on the spot. He noted that Rocha observed the referees did not react right away to Sobolev’s move and began signaling to explain the issue. In Gvardis’s view, that sequence could be interpreted as an insult to the officiating team, given the context and timing.
During the 67th minute of the Spartak versus CSKA match, Sobolev received a red card for making a provocative gesture near CSKA defender Willian Rocha.
On May 24, the RFU Disciplinary Committee reviewed the incident and issued Sobolev a four-match suspension, while also addressing the mistake of reversing the red card shown to Rocha.
Former Russian international Dmitry Bulykin offered his perspective on Sobolev’s disqualification.