Dietmar Drabek (born 30 June 1965) is a former

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n football referee. He is a member of the

Upper Austrian Football Association The Upper Austrian Football Association (German: Oberösterreichischer Fußballverband; OFV) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs of the Austrian state Upper Austria. The OFV was founded in 1919 and has its headquarters in Linz. The ...

. Drabek was an international

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

referee from 1997 to 2006. Since 2011, he has been a speaker for refereeing development and head of talent funding for the Upper Austrian referees.

Life

Dietmar Drabek was born in

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

. His father was also a referee, who had begun his career at the age of 17 and, according to his own accounts, managed around 3700 games, including 84 games of the Bundesliga or its predecessor the Nationalliga. At the age of nine, Dietmar Drabek started playing football, in the junior category, of the then second division

SK Vorwärts Steyr SK Vorwärts Steyr is an Austrian association football club based in Steyr. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Vorwärts Stadium. Currently the club has about 300 members. Is one of the oldest football clubs in Upper Austria. In 1999 the c ...

. Drabek soon decided to become a referee and at the age of 17 completed the referee examination. Initially, Dietmar Drabek refereed games in the Upper Austrian lower leagues. In 1992, he began directed games in the Upper Austrian League, which was then the third highest league. Only two years later, the trained retail salesperson, directed games in the second highest league, the Erste Liga. On 1 July 1994 he was in the squad of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

referees. He refereed his first game in the National League, on 13 August 1994, between FC Puch and the SV Stockerau (1-1). Just one year later he referring in the Austrian Bundesliga. His first game there was on 1 April 1, 1995, where

SK Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austria ...

played against FC Admira Wacker Mödling (2-2). Drabek became a

referee in 1997 and directed 40 international matches. Taking into account the assignments as

Assistant referee (association football) In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee (association football), referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of th ...

and as

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the La ...

, Drabek can account for 67 foreign assignments in 39 different European countries. Drabek's career included one negative event. On 5 May 2005 he had to stop the match between FK Austria Wien and

Grazer AK Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...

in the 80th minute after FK Austria Wien fans stormed the pitch in protest against the poor performance of their team. Since security could not bring the situation under control, a halt to the game could not be avoided. The match was replayed on 9 May 2005, with a 3:0 win for

. Bundesliga board member, Georg Pangl praised Drabek's prudent behaviour he demonstrated while dealing with the situation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drabek, Dietmar Football in Austria Austrian football referees 1965 births People from Steyr Living people Sportspeople from Upper Austria