Champions League referees arrested for stealing traffic sign

According to TVP Sport, Frankowski, Musial and another person stole a road sign and carried it to a shopping center in Lublin, Poland in the early hours of Tuesday.

They were arrested by police for destroying road infrastructure.

Frankowski and Musial were both drunk, with more than 1.5 mg of alcohol in their blood, and were taken to a short-term rehabilitation center for intoxication treatment, a facility used by many European countries when the crime is not serious enough to get jail time.

The Polish Football Association (PZPN) said it would analyze the situation in detail regarding reports of improper acts by referees Frankowski and Musial. Both are likely to face severe punishment for tarnishing the reputation of Polish refereeing at Champions League level.

On Sunday evening, UEFA confirmed that Lithuanian referee Donatas Rumsas would officiate Dynamo Kiev’s match against Rangers in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Tuesday, with Frankowski and Musial as VAR referees. However, UEFA later confirmed that the two Poles had been stripped of their duties and declined to comment further.

Frankowski, 37, is one of Poland’s top referees. He has been a FIFA referee since 2014, and has been assigned to a number of international youth tournaments, including the 2016 UEFA European U17 Championship in Azerbaijan, the 2018 UEFA European U19 Championship in Finland, and the 2021 UEFA European U21 Championship in Hungary and Slovenia. He was also a video assistant referee at the 2019 U17 World Cup in Brazil, and served as fourth referee at Euro 2020 and VAR referee at Euro 2024.

Tomasz Musial, 43, is the son of former Poland national footballer Adam Musial. Tomasz has been officiating in the Polish league since 2011. He became an international referee in 2014 and made his international debut in the game between Latvia and Andorra in the Nations League in June 2022.