Polish ref taken off Greek game and denies 'drunk' claims

Jacque Talbot

• 26 Jan 2023 19:39 GMT
• 1 min read

Pawel Ratkowski, a Polish referee, has vehemently denied a story against him and his fellow referees.

Ratkowski and his associates deny any such behaviour of ‘drunkness’ and claim to have been attacked by a fan on the plane - despite them being removed from officiating an upcoming encounter as a result of this.

The referee refutes claims that they left the hotel and went out partying, stating that they stayed in the hotel until they were informed by Steve Bennett, the former Premier League ref, that they would not be officiating the match. Ratkowski explains that, in fact, they had met with Bennett in the morning, had a calm conversation, and explained everything to him.

“We're not drunk,” he said via to10. “We were attacked by a fan. We came straight to the hotel. Bennett came and we talked"

Ratzkowski and the other three Polish referees, along with assistants Sieka, Kupsik, and VAR Jakubik, who were in Greece to officiate the Union's match against Ari, were accused of drunkenness and assault. However, the referee himself has denied these allegations and has said what happened in Greece on Saturday night.

He stated that they were not drunk, and the fan who accused them was the one who attacked them. The referees went directly to their hotel after the flight, had dinner, and went to bed, they say. They stayed at the hotel until the morning when they met with the head of Greek arbitration.