Bizarre incident before Champions League match: Referees caught stealing a traffic sign while drunk
Polish referees Bartosz Frankowski and Tomasz Musial, who were set to serve as VAR officials for the Dynamo Kyiv vs. Glasgow Rangers match, were apprehended by police for theft while wandering the city in an intoxicated state.
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It has been reported that two football referees were detained in the Polish city of Lublin early Tuesday morning on suspicion of stealing a traffic sign. It was also stated that the referees were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Both referees were scheduled to work in the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) room for the UEFA Champions League qualifying match between Dynamo Kyiv and Rangers, which ended in a 1-1 draw, but they were replaced by others.
The match was played in Poland instead of Kyiv due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Police detained Bartosz Frankowski and Tomasz Musial around 2:00 AM after finding them intoxicated with blood alcohol levels over 1.5 per mille.
CONTRACTS MAY BE TERMINATED
The Polish Football Association stated in a press release that it would evaluate the incident and, if the allegations are confirmed, would terminate the contracts of the two referees.
The statement read, "If the information is confirmed, the Referee College will apply to the federation's general secretariat for the termination of the contracts with the (concerned) referees. The matter will also be referred to the Polish Football Association's Disciplinary Committee, which may decide to impose further disciplinary penalties."
37-year-old Bartosz Frankowski is considered a top-tier referee in Poland and was selected for the VAR team for the Real Madrid-Bayern Munich Champions League semi-final last season.
While the duo apologized for the incident, Frankowski added that his behavior was "not aggressive" and that he "cooperated with the police officers."