Euro 2020. Polish referee Szymon Marciniak outside the tournament. “I will immediately inform those who would like to bury Marciniak and celebrate his end: it is too early for that. I had known for a long time that I would not be on the Euro list. This is the result of my health problems”, says Szymon Marciniak in an interview with Interia.
- UEFA has announced the list of referees who will officiate Euro 2020 matches and, unexpectedly, you are not there. Are you surprised?
- Not at all.
- Do you judge your form so badly?
- It's good that some people are very cheerful about it, because it was a crazy atmosphere. So, I will immediately inform those who would like to bury Marciniak and celebrate his end: it is too early for that. I had known for a long time that I would not be on the Euro list.
- Why? And how did you find out about UEFA's decision?
- The decision was made in early April after my last medical tests. However, I had a phone call from Roberto Rosetti, who is UEFA's chief referee, a few days before the list was officially announced. We have known each other for many years and I knew that it was a difficult decision for him and he was humanly sorry. As a team, we have extensive tournament experience and we would be useful, but this is the life of an athlete.
- Why are you not on the list? I can't believe they didn't count on you for Euro...
- In April it was possible for me to referee one of the quarter-finals of the UEFA competitions, but I didn't get the match and then I realized that I would lose the Euro. Health problems stood in my way. As you know, I have had Covid-19. And it was the coronavirus that turned out to be a problem. I fell ill with tachycardia, which disturbs the rhythm of my heartbeat. At one point, my heart rate was elevated even while I was sitting down, as if I was walking briskly. I am still not 100% sure what the genesis of this disease is, but there are many indications of the coronavirus. Tachycardia is not something that can be cured in a week, like a cold. I have been under the constant care of Professor Krzysztof Pawlaczyk for some time and we are slowly heading in the right direction.
- But you still referee in the Polish Ekstraklasa. Recently, in the 26th round, you refereed the match between Jagiellonia Białystok and Stal Mielec. And a few others before that.
- I will be brutally honest: the difference in the intensity of work in Ekstraklasa versus Euro is huge. That is why no one at UEFA wanted to take risks and send me to a tournament or a UEFA Champions League quarter-final. I understand that and I have no complaints. I know that there are more important things in life than work and refereeing, although I have to admit that the last two years have been very hard for me. First, a spine injury, and now the coronavirus...
- Former FIFA referee Ryszard Wojcik said strong words in an interview with Interia: "Szymon is still faced with a dilemma: to referee the most important matches in Europe or earn good money on refereeing. For several years, however, the latter has probably been a bit more important in the hierarchy of his goals. I do not know any referees from the best leagues in Europe that would systematically travel to other climatic zones for several dozen hours to referee one match". How do you answer that?
- What can I say? He fired a bullet at the fence. In 2019, the UEFA Referees Committee decided that any appointment of a referee to lead a match in another country goes through UEFA. So, if the Saudis want Marciniak, they are not calling Poland, but UEFA. And if UEFA agrees, it will ask in Poland if Marciniak can go. So, it's hard for UEFA referees to not be influenced by... UEFA decisions. Besides, since 2019 I did not travel that much. In 2020, I refereed the Saudi King's Cup Final. Do you know who refereed the Super Cup there? Daniele Orsato, who recently refereed the Champions League final. The referees such as the German Felix Brych, the Dutchman Björn Kuipers and the Slovene Damir Skomina also travel to other countries. Each of them knows that an invitation to a different league is an appreciation, not a punitive exile.
- What's next? Are you going to the championship as a fan?
- Nothing special. I work hard on my health recovery and I hope that in July I will be returning to work at top level. In 2015, I refereed the matches of the European U-21 Championship, a year later was Euro 2016, followed by an intense 2017 and the U-20 World Cup in South Korea and then the 2018 World Cup in Russia. During this time, I didn't really have a real vacation, so I'm going to use the period in June for regeneration.
Source: Interia Sport
