Referees are celebrities in their own right these days, unfortunately, and Bournemouth may be about to experience that in Europe.
The Cherries travel to Real Sociedad on Thursday for the start of their European campaign. And while the focus should be on that, over in Spain they haven’t missed who has been handed refereeing duties.
An experienced Polish referee with a somewhat controversial track record is set to officiate the game. His name? Paweł Raczkowski.
On the face of it, his CV makes for impressive reading. At 43, he boasts an extensive record, officiating 368 matches in the Ekstraklasa in Poland and 23 cup games.
His European record also includes 22 Europa League games, five Champions League game and nine Conference League fixtures. He’s even handled games in Greece and Saudi Arabia. On the face of it, then, no problem.
Bournemouth getting controversial official
Except his recent history is marked with controversial moments, which should be entertaining for Bournemouth.
The biggest of those came in March when Liverpool hosted Galatasaray at Anfield. Raczkowski was scheduled to be fourth official in that game but had to step in as the main referee compatriot Szymon Marciniak suffered an injury during the warm-up.
Galatasaray lost that game 4-0 and their coach Okan Buruk was left furious with the Polish referee’s display.
He even went as far as to label him “one of the worst referees in the world” after the game.
He was particularly furious about a ‘contentious penalty’ handed to Liverpool in the first half, as relayed in today’s print edition of Diario Vasco.
Something of a Greek drama
Then there is the “Athens flight scandal” from three years ago. That originated after Raczkowski and fellow Polish referees were hired by the Greek FA to officiate a game between AEK Athens and Aris Thessaloniki in the Greek Super League playoffs.
However, they ended up being removed from the game just hours before kick-off following allegations that they had arrived at the airport ‘in a state of intoxication’ and caused a disturbance on the plane.
Raczkowski and his colleagues categorically denied the claims. They instead said that they had bee assaulted mid-flight by a Panathinaikos fan who allegedly spat on him, attacked him and threatened him.
Ultimately, they were replaced at the last minute by local referees, sparking controversy in the Greece and the emergence of conspiracy theories that the entire affair was designed to benefit AEK.
So, Bournemouth are getting a referee who has been labelled the worst in the world and found himself mired in controversy in Greece as well. The perfect appointment for your first ever game in Europe? Perhaps not.
