Marciniak, who in the past also whistled for Prague “S” derbies, has a reputation as one of the best referees in the world. However, the mistake at the end of Wednesday’s rematch may make him regret it. “From what we heard, Marciniak and his assistants had a great chance of managing the Germany-Scotland match in Munich. Now these chances are very small, maybe even zero,” said Tomasz Wlodarczyk, editor-in-chief of the football portal Meczyki, in the TV studio.
The Polish referee refereed the World Cup final between Argentina and France in December 2022 and the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan last June. He also refereed the final of the Club World Cup last December. The Przeglad Sportowy website points out that, according to the custom of appointing referees, he did not have a chance for another big final so soon. However, the opening match of Euro 2024 was supposed to be an honor and a “consolation prize” for Marciniak.
Wednesday night probably changed everything. Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern equalized at the end of regulation to make it 2:2, but the goal was disallowed. Assistant Tomasz Listkiewicz signaled Mazráví was offside and Marciniak stopped the play before the ball hit the net. At the same time, it was not at all apparent from the repeated shots whether it was really an offside position. If the referees had let the whole event play out as they should have, the video referee would surely have reviewed it. However, this is not how the video was analyzed.
“It’s not just about that. As far as I know, UEFA also complains that the referee added another four minutes to the announced set-up. The disputed situation thus occurred in the 13th minute of regulation, which is a very, very long time. The trend is not to add so many minutes. They sort of brought their fate on themselves,” Wlodarczyk noted.
While in Poland they defend their referees, in Germany they are the target of sharp criticism. The newspaper Bild fueled it with the headline “Scandal!” on the front page. “Don’t go to Germany. For their own safety,” Bayern fans threaten in posts under reports and on social networks.
According to Wlodarczyk, UEFA will also take into account the huge media storm. Marciniak keeps whistling anyway. On Sunday, he will lead the weekend blockbuster of the Polish league, in which Lech Poznań will face Legia Warsaw.
2024-05-10 17:38:07
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