By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
It was an unusual experience for Slovenian Matej Boltauzer, way beyond his normal duties as a referee in club continental competitions of Euroleague Basketball.
Boltauzer, 49, appears to shoplift in the duty-free section of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport.
Republika reported his involvement in the scandal and also shared the related security footage on Friday.
After stealing a Tom Ford bottle of perfume valued at 221 euros, he was temporarily detained at the airport on 5 December. According to the report, he admitted his misconduct to the police and was later released. However, he refused to comment upon being contacted by the Serbian outlet. “I don’t know anything about that. I’m sorry, I can’t talk,” was his response.
Gathering information on the incident, Euroleague Basketball initiated a disciplinary procedure, according to Eurohoops sources.
The unlawful act followed the game between Partizan Mozzart Bet and AS Monaco in Belgrade, in Round 12 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. Boltauzer was assigned to numerous more contests for the remainder of the Regular Season. Moving into the Playoffs, he was among the officials in Game 1 of the best-of-five series between Panathinaikos Aktor and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in OAKA Altion on Tuesday.
Highlighting his career, he was selected across six installments of the EuroLeague Final Four. His latest appearance in a season-ending tournament of Europe’s premier club continental competition was in 2021, refereeing the Semifinal matchup between FC Barcelona and AX Armani Exchange Milan in Cologne, Germany.