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Football

26th Oct 2024

Two referees banned by UEFA for stealing a road sign when they were drunk

Zoe Hodges

They’ve received a lengthy ban

Two referees have been banned by UEFA after getting arrested for drunkenly stealing a road sign.

The incident occured in the lead-up to Rangers’ Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv.

Polish officials Bartosz Frankowski and Tomasz Musial had been captured on CCTV attempting to carry the sign with another individual hours before kick off in Lublin, Poland on August 6.

The pair received fines at the time but have now been suspended from officiating until June 30 2025 for violating ‘basic rules of decent conduct’ by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.

Lublin City Police Senior Superintendent Kamil Golebiowski told TVP Sport in the immediate aftermath: “At around 1:40am, we received a report of three men carrying a road sign down the street.

“Police officers were dispatched to the scene. All of the men were intoxicated and had over 1.5 per mill of alcohol in their blood. They were taken to a sobering-up centre.”

Frankowski was due to take charge as the video assistant referee for the game, while Musial had been set to act as his assistant.

The Polish FA were forced to call in Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Pawel Malec to replace them in their positions.

Frankowski who has an impressive CV including officiating at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 issued a statement expressing his regret.

He said: “I am still trying to find words that will sufficiently express how much I regret this incident and how sorry I am.

“I realise that with one such violation, I ruined 22 years of refereeing, ruined my entire career. I should have calmly prepared for the match and not gone anywhere.

“As one of the police officers later told me, our prank was spotted by CCTV cameras, and they intervened. I would like to clarify that we were in no way aggressive. These were stupid jokes.

“We did not suspect that it would be perceived this way. We had no bad intentions. It was stupidity, an idiotic fantasy, I don’t even know what to call it.”

He went on to say it was ‘not a very smart idea’ and that he was ‘very sorry this happened’.

He added: “I know that my unfortunate behaviour will cast a shadow on many years of hard work.

“What happened was irresponsible and unprofessional on my part, and I am fully aware of that. I would just like to emphasise that there were no acts of aggression in my behaviour, I did not break the law and there was no unlawful behaviour on my part towards police officers or anyone.”

His colleague Musial also issued a statement separately saying: “I wholeheartedly apologise to the authorities of the Polish Football Association, especially the Referees’ College, the authorities of Ekstraklasa and all those whom I have disappointed with my attitude.

“This is the first incident of this type involving me. For many years of my professional career as a referee, I have worked hard to get to where I am today.

“At the same time, I have always tried to set an example, both on and off the pitch. I am aware of the consequences that await me, but I hope that I will be able to rehabilitate myself and rebuild your trust.”

The game the pair were supposed to officiate ended 1-1, however, Rangers were beaten 2-0 in the second leg the following week meaning Dynamo secured a 3-1 victory on aggregate.

Topics:

Referees,Uefa