Breaking News:Gutted Dynamo Kyiv vs Rangers VAR official arrested and thrown off tie issues embarrassed apology
The VAR official thrown off Rangers’ Champions League tie after being arrested the night before has issued an apology.
Bartosz Frankowski and fellow Pole Tomasz Musia were due to be in the VAR studio as Philippe Clement’s side took on Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League third qualifying round last night. But the shock news of their arrest broke yesterday after the pair took part in a prank which saw them pinch a road sign in the early hours of the morning.
Frankowski was due to be the lead official and backed up by Musia but they were taken off duty and replaced by Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Pawel Malec, who didn’t end up having a lot of involvement as Cyriel Dessers’ dramatic late equaliser rescued a draw for the Light Blues.
The pair are expected to be dismissed by the Polish FA and Frankowski has now expressed his deep regret at the incident in a statement released this morning.
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. It was stupidity, an idiotic fantasy, I don’t even know what to call it. 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.
“The prank with this sign was a stupid game. Now, looking back, I understand that it was not a very smart idea. It was a sign that was lying next to where road works were being carried out. And we were passing by. I am very sorry that this happened. And on a purely human level, it was stupid, because I know that my unfortunate behaviour will cast a shadow on many years of hard work.
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