Two referees in the Czech football league have been banned indefinitely after one appeared to be drunk on the sideline and the other was seen urinating during a game. The verdict taken by the federation’s referee committee came a day after the behavior occurred during a match between Pribram and Slavia Prague, which was broadcast live. Fourth official Marek Pilny attracted attention from the start. He was stumbling along the sideline and at one point he fell over, prompting the TV commentator to say the referee provided better entertainment than the players. Pilny was escorted from the field at half-time. Referee Jiri Jech began urinating behind the goal during the game.
The FACR said fourth official Marek Pilny and additional assistant referee Jiri Jech would lose their licences and face disciplinary action. “Pilny was visibly drunk from the beginning of the game,” the association said in a statement. “He struggled for balance by the touchline, he fell, at times he ran with the linesman copying his movements. After 10 minutes he had to be guarded by a bodyguard, and at half-time Pilny left for the changing rooms and never came back,” the association said. It added that additional assistant Jech was “also under the influence of alcohol and allegedly even peed during the game”.
FA head Miroslav Pelta said the game’s referee and two assistants would be suspended until the end of the season because they failed to prevent the situation. He showed no mercy for the two match officials, whose staggering and tottering is depicted in videos posted online. “They were not tipsy, they were drunk. They do not exist for us anymore”, said Pelta.
A similar situation happened in 2008, when FIFA referee Sergei Shmolik, 43, has been suspended for allegedly being drunk while officiating a first division game in Belarus. It was thought at first that Shmolik was suffering from back pain. However, tests in hospital later revealed that he had high levels of alcohol in his system. That incident ended his career, only one year after Shmolik was voted the best referee in Belarus.
Source: BBC