“Goodbye, darling!” you call out to your wife as you leave the house. Dressed in your refereeing kit – tight black shorts pulled up to your navel, whistle hanging loosely around your neck – you jump on your fixie bike and start the long cycle to work. As you pass by your local, you spot a work colleague in the pub garden. The sun glints off his rich, golden pint, which he raises in your direction. “I’ll just pop in for one,” you decide. “One refreshing beverage can’t do any harm.”
12 pints of Pilsner later, you’re desperately trying to hold it together while officiating a Czech first division match.
Videos by VICE
This is something like the situation that Marek Pilny and Jiri Jech found themselves in on Wednesday evening. Both have now been banned by the Czech Football Association, after apparently turning up to referee a league fixture while drunk. According to an official statement, the pair “participated in the proceedings of Wednesday’s league match between FK Pribram and Slavia Prague under the influence of alcohol. Both will lose their refereeing licenses and will face bans from the Disciplinary Committee.”
Pilny was acting fourth official, while Jech was the additional assistant referee. Footage of Pilny being ejected from the ground midway through the match has been widely circulated on YouTube.
The Chairman of the Czech Football Association, Miroslav Pelta, has said: “These individuals, in their careless behavior, injured thousands of decent players, officials and referees. They were not tipsy, they were drunk. They have now been expelled from the Association. That should be the end of it.”
Pelta has also stated that the match referee and two linesmen will be suspended until the end of the season for failing to prevent the situation.
In fairness, it was a 5.15 kick off.
