The VAR officials chosen for Rangers’ Champions League qualifying match were reportedly arrested hours before kick-off.
Rangers take on Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv in Lublin, Poland, in the third qualifying round of European football’s elite club competition.
Polish referee Bartosz Frankowski has been appointed as an assistant video referee, while his compatriot Tomasz Musial is his VAR assistant.
However, Polish media outlet TVP Sport reported that the duo had been fired from their duties after being arrested by police.
Frankowski and Musial, along with a third person, were allegedly caught stealing a traffic sign in Lublin.
The report specifies that the arrests took place around 01:43 hours for the crime of “destruction of road infrastructure. “
Frankowski and Musial allegedly had alcohol in their formula and were taken to a “beverage center. “
“At about 1:40 a. m. we learned that three men were carrying traffic signs on the street,” Chief Superintendent Kamil Golebiowski said.
“Police officers were dispatched to the scene. All of the men had more than 1. 5 thousand alcohol in their blood. They were taken to a sobriety center. “
UEFA has included Tomasz Kwiatkowski as VAR for tonight’s match and Pawel Malec as an assistant.
Frankowski referees at Ekstraklasa, the elite of Polish football, and in the past has refereed five Champions League matches, including Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Zenit St. Petersburg in the 2021/22 stage of the organisation.
He most recently worked as a VAR assistant at the festival in May during Real Madrid’s controversial 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the semi-final second leg.
Musial is also a regular in Ekstraklasa and refereed two Champions League qualifying matches.
He also has refereeing experience in the Europa League and Europa Conference League qualifiers, as well as the Saudi Pro League.
However, he and Frankowski will no longer be there when Kiev hosts Rangers, kick-off will be at 19:00 United Kingdom time.
Rangers reached third place in the Champions League after completing a second-place finish in the Scottish Premiership last season.
If they beat Dynamo Kyiv in two games, the one to be played on August 13, Philippe Clement’s team will face either Red Bull Salzburg or FC Twente in the play-offs.
Victory in those two games will allow Rangers to qualify for the Champions League as part of the new league phase.
However, a defeat will allow them to advance to the Europa League league level, a festival in which they finished second with Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2021/22 campaign.
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