Baltic blunder leaves Czechs red-faced
Published 29 May, 2008, 09:33
Two Czech football officials have been fired after they mixed up two Baltic states during an international friendly on Tuesday.
The Lithuanian national team were mistaken for their Latvian neighbours, prompting disbelief among the crowd and embarrassment for the Czech Football Federation.
The cock-up was so complete that the organisers not only had a picture of the Latvian team in the programme (instead of Lithuania), but they even managed to have the Latvian national anthem played before the game.
The federation's spokesman, Vaclav Tichy, took responsibility for the gaffe and resigned from his post. His assistant was also fired, while another official was fined.
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