Referee gets the red card for being blind drunk during match

Sergei Shmolik, 43, was so drunk he was barely able to move around the pitch and 'gestured like a clown' during a key fixture in the Belarus premier league.

Amazingly, officials only noticed his condition in the second half when he was said to be refereeing the match from the centre circle.

The referee, who officiated at Wembley for England's 6-0 hammering of Luxembourg in 1999, became a FIFA whistler in 1993.

Only last year he was voted the best referee in Belarus.

Blitzed: FIFA appointed referee, Sergey Shmolik is confronted about his condition

Sent off: Shmolik waves to the crowd as he is led from the pitch during a Belarusian Premier League tie between FC Naftan and FC Vitebsk

One source at the premier league clash between Vitebsk and Naftan said: 'In the second half, he hardly moved around the pitch at all. By the end of the game the reason was evident to everyone - the referee was drunk.

'This was confirmed with a medical test later in the evening.'

The game ended in a 1-1 draw and the referee did not use either his yellow or red cards.

'I haven't seen a drunk referee before. It's just beyond my comprehension,' said Belarus national coach Berndt Stange who watched the game.

A Belarus Football Federation spokesman said: 'We cannot comment until the end of investigation into what happened in Vitebsk.

'At the moment Shmolik is suspended from his refereeing duties.'

The federation has refused to confirm that vodka was the alcohol involved.

The referee caused a storm in Ireland in 1999 after he put the country's under-17 team out of the Meridian Cup in Cape Town in a game against Egypt.

Furious coach Brian Kerr stormed: 'It was very frustrating. We controlled the game and then lost the match because of two bad decisions.'