FCSB will start their UEFA Champions League preliminary adventure on Tuesday evening, in an away match in San Marino, against the Virtus AC champions, starting at 10 p.m.
UEFA has announced the referee appointments for the first day of European duels next week, and the appointed name for the red-and-blue match is somewhat surprising. The European body has appointed the 34-year-old Bosnian Antoni Bandici for the match between Virtus and FCSB. The assistants of the referee will be Amer Macici and Damir Lazici, for the first preliminary round match of the Champions League.
Bandici was involved in a major scandal in May 2017, which led to the Bosnia Football Federation suspending him for a whole season, 2017/2018, as reported by DigiSport. He made some huge mistakes in the match that decided the title between Zrinjski and Radnik Bijelina, with a score of 2-1. Following that victory, Zrinjski won the title in Bosnia. He was then suspended for a year, but somehow circumvented the suspension as he continued to work as a linesman.
He will make his European debut in the match of the Romanian champions on Tuesday, where the new UEFA rule will also be implemented, stating that the referee will only communicate with the two team captains on the field, with the rest of the players prohibited from interacting with the referee.
The former FCSB star, Italian striker Federico Piovaccari, now 39 years old, will also play for Virtus. The match will be broadcast live on SpotMedia.ro.
D.A.