Is Robert Lewandowski facing arrest for drinking champagne on the pitch?
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has been reported to Warsaw police for drinking champagne on the pitch while celebrating Poland’s qualification to Euro 2016, Mirror reported. Lewandowski had fallen foul of Poland’s drinking laws after his country’s 2-1 victory over Republic of Ireland and his act has now been reported anonymously to the concerned authorities.
The 27-year-old has been nothing but sensational this season for both club and country. Lewandowski is arguably the best striker in Europe at the moment. But after scoring his 15th goal in six games for his national team, he was seen drinking from a celebratory bottle on the pitch of Warsaw’s National Stadium.
The act is deemed as a potential breach of the country’s ‘Act on Safety of Mass Events’. In Article 8, the law says it allows states “the sale, administration and consumption of alcoholic beverages of no more than 3.5 percent alcohol" while point two states that the consumption "can only take place in designated areas". The typical alcoholic percentage of a bottle of champagne is around 12 percent, which is a lot more than the amount Polish law permits to be consumed in public.
However, the Poland striker’s agent, Cezary Kucharski, has laughed off on the prospect of a criminal charge and he remains hopeful in receiving more explanation from the FA on the situation.
“We don't take this matter seriously.” he said. “I hope that the FA will strive to ensure that they can explain the situation.
“I don't want Robert to have to bother with such trifle.”
A spokesperson for the Police District Commander though stated that the force must determine whether the law was indeed breached, and that "each notification must be taken seriously, as the police are there to ensure order”.
Krychowiak and Glik poke fun at Lewandowski on Twitter
Lewandowski’s Polish teammates including Sevilla’s Grzegorz Krychowiak and Torino defender Kamil Glik took to social media and poked fun at the Bayern player on Twitter, although they defended his conduct at the same time.
“I also drank, can I expect a phone call?” Glik tweeted.
Even the president of the Polish FA Zbigniew Boniek replied to Glik that the Italian Military Police were ‘on their way’, and that he should ‘get in touch’.
While, Krychowiak tweeted: “Thank god I don't drink champagne otherwise I would be in serious trouble!”
At the moment, the Bayern star player is yet to officially comment on the matter. However, he did tweet a cheeky response to the story by simply tweeting ‘Cheers!’ from his official Twitter account.