Football is sometimes surprisingly cyclical. Some events are repeated so similarly that it's as if time is reenacting scenes that have passed with it. A similar situation was observed in the final match.
Exactly two years before the final - on October 29, 2023, "Bukhara" hosted "Pakhtakor." That match was intense and contentious, with both teams fighting for victory until the last minute.
However, the game was decided by a controversial decision in the 90+6th minute. After the VAR call, the referee awarded a penalty, and it was this goal that defeated "Bukhara." Later it became known that this situation caused a lot of discussion in the football community.
The UzFHM (Uzbekistan Football Referees Center) commission analyzed the video footage at that time and stated that no action justified by a penalty was found. According to the commission's conclusion, the VAR system "inappropriately intervened" in this episode and exerted pressure on the main referee.
As a result, the referee of the match - Nayim Kasimov - was suspended from football for an indefinite period, and his VAR license was revoked.
It was this same Nayim Qosimov who officiated yesterday's final. This situation surprised football fans - two years ago, due to a controversial decision made via VAR, "Bukhara" was relegated to the Pro League, and today the same referee was again recorded in the elite final.
As a result of the 2023 season, Bukhara remained at the bottom of the championship and was subsequently relegated to the Pro League. Pakhtakor qualified for the AFC Champions League as champions.
Bekzod Kamolov, who was considered to have suffered from the referee's decision, later did not return to the field. According to Transfermarkt, the 20-year-old Kamolov retired after the incident.
This incident became one of the most painful paradoxes in football history. Nayim Kasimov was criticized two years ago after the VAR match, but now he has again managed a responsible game.
Fans assess this situation differently - some consider his reappointment a "restoration of trust," while others see it as "a sign that no lessons have been learned from the system's mistakes."
One thing is clear: time flows in football, but history always leaves its mark. Both that match behind the VAR challenge and yesterday's final are proof of this.
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