The Event Disciplinary Function (EDF) of the Men’s U19 World Floorball Championships 2027 EUR2 Qualification has issued its final decision regarding the red card shown to player #5 Luka Stepanyuk of Team Ukraine, during the match between Slovenia and Ukraine today, Thursday 10th September 2026.
The incident under review took place in the second period, at 28:49. Slovenian player #24, Kankel Kular, pushed Ukrainian player #5, Luka Stepanyuk, from behind, resulting in a free-hit offence. Following the contact, both players fell to the floor. While both players were on the floor, Stepanyuk kicked Kular in the head area with his foot. Immediately afterwards, Stepanyuk used his foot to press against Kular’s neck area, holding him down towards the floor for a short period of time. The act was intentional and directed towards the opponent’s head/neck area. The kick was delivered with some degree of force and had the potential to cause serious injury however the opponent did not sustain an injury because of the incident.
The referees considered Stepanyuk’s actions to constitute violent physical play and consequently issued him a Match Penalty according to the IFF Rules of the Game 2026 Rule 614.3: When a player is guilty of violent physical play. (909)
A match penalty carries an automatic one match suspension, but in accordance with the IFF Juridical Regulations, the EDF reviews all match penalties to decide if any further action is necessary. The EDF decision is that the match penalty is sufficient and no further penalty is necessary. Stepanyuk will miss Ukraine’s next match, being their game against Hungary on Friday 11th September 2026.
