Blunder ban Czech referee not a worry, says Burley

Published on Wednesday 3 September 2008 23:36

SCOTLAND manager George Burley believes that Saturday's World Cup qualifying match in Macedonia will be a "big test" for controversial Czech referee Pavel Kralovec.

Nine months ago, Kralovec was given a six-match suspension for his poor performances.

The 31-year-old was hit with the ban after making a series of high-profile blunders in a league match between Slavia Prague and Mlada Boleslav.

The Czech Football Association also suspended one of the assistant referees and the fourth official from that game.

Kralovec later apologised for his display, but was still made to miss six games. He said: "I accept that I made mistakes. Next time I will have to be better prepared."

He was later the victim of an assault outside his house in January when he was knocked unconscious – but he said he did not believe that it was a football-related incident.

Kralovec has only previously taken charge of two full internationals, in Kazakhstan and Moldova. And he has never been in charge of a Champions League match in his short career.

The Scotland manager believes his players will have to take extra care with such an inexperienced referee in charge.

"He's a young, inexperienced referee and it will be a big test for him," said Burley. "It's something you accept. You've got to be careful with your tackles around the box. He will be under pressure. But I'm sure it's not a problem. He's from the Czech Republic, which is a really good footballing nation, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

Kralovec will be assisted in Skopje by countrymen Miroslav Zlamal and Jan Filgas. Jiri Jech is the fourth official.