Polish referee Simon Marciniak, who refereed the final match of the 2022 World Cup, which was held in the State of Qatar, responded to French accusations of favoritism to Argentina, and made more than one controversial decision.
More than 200,000 French people signed a petition addressed to the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) claiming that their team had been unfairly dealt with and calling for a replay of the World Cup final. The Federation ignored these calls and did not pay any attention to them.
World Cup final referee defends his decisions
The French accusations of referee Marciniac centered on what happened in the 109th minute when Lionel Messi scored the goal for Argentina, at a time when some of the substitute players on the "Tango" bench had advanced into the boundaries of the stadium.
As for the other shot, it was in the 87th minute, after France striker Marcus Thuram fell inside the penalty area, and the Polish referee declared him a yellow card due to an allegation that he was obstructed by an Argentine defender.
Szymon Marciniak, the referee for the World Cup Final, has responded to @lequipe's criticism that Lionel Messi's second goal shouldn't have been counted:
"The French didn't mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal."
pic.twitter.com/iJrx7qxAKu
— Dibya (@brown_walkers7) December 23, 2022
Marciniak defended himself, stressing that all his decisions were normal and that he did not commit any mistakes affecting the outcome of the match, and said that the French exaggerate their accusations against him.
He added, wondering, "With regard to calculating the third goal for Argentina, what is the effect caused by the substitute players when they crossed the field to celebrate the goal before the ball entered the net? .. The French exaggerate a lot."
He continued, "The French newspapers forgot to study the laws, and no one spoke about Kylian Mbappe's goal, which he scored at a time when there were 7 players from the bench on the field."
During his speech in a press interview, the Polish referee reviewed a picture from his mobile phone showing the presence of some French players within the boundaries of the stadium, while Mbappe scored the goal.
Regarding Marcus Thuram's ball in which he warned him, Marciniak said, "They told me from the VAR room immediately after the decision that there was a foul and a penalty kick, but they immediately started looking at everything from different angles, after that they made sure that the French player He was claiming to be disabled and that I had made the right decision."
Collina praises Marciniac
The Italian Pierlogi Collina, head of the Referees Committee in FIFA and the former famous referee, praised the performance of Poland's Marciniak in the World Cup final.
"He was more powerful than technology. He made decisions on the field that were accurate and incredibly good," said Collina.
Marciniak also received praise from former English referee Howard Webb, who said it was the greatest refereeing performance in World Championship history.
Although Marciniak scored two penalty kicks for France in the match, the French newspaper L'Equipe gave him a very low rating (2/10).