Two UEFA officials were removed from Rangers’ Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv in Poland last night after reportedly spending the evening before the match in a ‘drunk tank’.
The Scottish side drew 1-1 with the Ukraine team in their away leg which was played at a neutral venue in Lublin on Tuesday night, but not after VAR Bartosz Frankowski and assistant VAR Tomasz Musial were replaced at the last minute.
According to Polish outlet TVP Sport, the pair were allegedly caught by police stealing a road sign on the evening before the match. The report adds that the pair spent the night at a sobering up centre, quoting a local police press officer in Lublin, who said that Frankowski had 1.7 per mille of alcohol in his blood and Musial 1.8.
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These so-called ‘drunk tanks’ are regularly used in Poland with around 300,000 individuals staying in them each year, with those who do so needing to pay before they are released the following morning.
The duo were replaced by another Polish pair Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Pawel Malec for the match, which was being played in Poland due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Rangers were able to score a 94th-minute equaliser in Lublin as Cyriel Dessers cancelled out Andriy Yarmolenko’s opener with the last kick of the game to give them everything to play for when the two sides meet again next week in the second leg at Ibrox.
The winners of the tie will then head to the playoff round where they will face either Red Bull Salzburg or Twente for a place in the Champions League group stage with the Scottish side looking to return to Europe’s premier club competition after missing out last season.
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