Szymon Marciniak.
His name has gone down in posterity in France for his whistles in the 2022 World Cup final between France and Argentina.
And who cares if most of them were relevant.
Indeed, the Polish referee was unanimous abroad and even received congratulations from Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's chief expert, but he still wanted to respond to criticism from France (and in particular of the Team) on some contentious decisions in a press conference.
Marciniak began by kindly chambering - rightly - all the papers of the French press (including ours) which demanded the cancellation of Messi's second goal (that of the 3-2), because some teammates of the Argentinian had returned to the land upstream, under Law 3, paragraph 9.
“What was the impact of the guys getting up and jumping on the pitch?
It's looking for the little beast, it's not very serious ” first replied the Pole, before continuing by showing a photo of several French players already on the ground when Mbappé equalized in regulation time.
“The rules of the game are not a penal code.
You cannot literally analyze everything.
The most important is the spirit of the game. For example, there is a rule that the game cannot continue without a corner flag.
Imagine that the flag is broken and there is no more reserve.
Well I should say that on page 30 of the rules there is such a provision and that we are canceling the Worlds final?
»
Szymon Marciniak wyjaśnia😎 @lequipe.
Kiedy Francuzi strzelali gola, na boisku było siedmiu ich rezerwowych.
Doszukiwanie się takich rzeczy nie jest zbytnio poważne.
@sport_tvppl #mundialove pic.twitter.com/MOAMgnaavr
— Jakub Klyszejko (@jakubklyszejko) December 22, 2022
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Szymon Marciniak then confided that he preferred to rely on post-match reactions, when the French, he said, came to congratulate him on his performance: “What matters is what the players say.
The French thanked me after the match, they were satisfied with the refereeing.
I chatted with Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, everyone shook hands And Kylian Mbappe unexpectedly hugged me.
He was very sad and disappointed at the loss.
I think it was such a human gesture.
I also hugged him and tried to comfort him, said he was an exceptional player who won the World Cup four years ago.
And the next one, we hope so.
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