The Polish Football Federation said it will terminate the contracts of both referees if the claims are confirmed.
ADVERTISEMENTTwo football referees were reportedly detained in the Polish city of Lublin early Tuesday morning for allegedly stealing a road sign while under the influence of alcohol.
Both were scheduled to work in the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) room during the UEFA Champions League qualifier between Dynamo Kyiv and Rangers, which ended in a 1-1 draw, but were replaced.
The game was held in Poland instead of Kyiv due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Police detained them around 2 am and took them to a sobering-up center after finding Bartosz Frankowski and Tomasz Musial intoxicated with over 1.5 per mille of alcohol in their blood.
The Polish Football Association said in a statement it would assess the incident and terminate the contracts of the two referees if the claims are confirmed.
“If the information is confirmed, the College of Referees will apply to the secretary general of the federation to terminate the contracts with the referees. The case will also be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission of the Polish Football Association, which may decide to impose further disciplinary action”, it said.
37-year-old Bartosz Frankowski is considered a top official in Poland and was also selected for the VAR team in last season’s Real Madrid-Bayern Munich Champions League semifinal.
The pair apologised over the incident. Frankowski added that his behaviour was “not aggressive” and that he “cooperated with the police officers.”
