VAR officials arrested hours before UEFA Champions League clash for bizarre reason - Reports

The VAR officials appointed for the UEFA Champions League qualifying game between Dynamo Kyiv and Rangers have been reportedly arrested before the contest. Dynamo lock horns with Rangers in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League at the Arena Lublin stadium in Poland.

Polish referees Bartosz Frankowski and Tomasz Musial were appointed as the video assistant referee and assistant VAR, respectively,. However, in a dramatic turn of events, both officials were arrested by the Polish police before the match for a misdemeanor.

According to Polish outlet TVP Sport, Bartosz Frankowski and his compatriot Musial, along with a third person, were allegedly caught stealing a road sign in Lublin. The media outlet claimed that they were arrested at 01:43 in Lublin, precisely at Al. 1000-Lecia, with an offense for ‘’destroying road infrastructure’’.

The superintendent of the press officer of the Lublin City police headquarters said:

‘’At around 1:40 a.m. 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 mille of alcohol in their blood. They were taken to a sobering-up center.

The Polish media outlet further said that it reached out to the head of referees of the Polish Football Association for a comment, but he wasn’t aware of the situation and is yet to make one.

Consequently, both referees have been replaced by UEFA by another pair of Polish referees, Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Paweł Malec. Frankowski is one of the most high-profile referees in Poland, as he officiates in the Ekstraklasa (the top flight of Polish football).

He has also officiated Champions League matches, with his most recent officiating in the competition being as an assistant VAR in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory against Bayern Munich in the semi-final second leg last season.

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2024-2025 UEFA Champions League Play-Off Draws

The play-off draws for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League draw took place on Monday (August 5), with the new campaign set to kickstart in September.

Below are the full fixtures after Monday's draw.

Young Boys Bern (SUI) v Galatasaray (TUR)

Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Qarabag (AZE) or Ludogorets (BUL)

Midtjylland (DEN) or Ferencvaros (HUN) v Slovan Bratislava (SVK) or APOEL Nicosia (CYP)

Jagiellonia Bialystok (POL) or Bodo/Glimt (NOR) v Crvena Zvezda (SRB)

Malmo (SWE) or PAOK (GRE) v Sparta Prague (CZE) or Steaua Bucharest (ROU)

Lille (FRA) or Fenerbahce (TUR) v Slavia Prague (CZE) or Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL)

Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) or Rangers (SCO) v RB Salzburg (AUT) or Twente (NED)