We have nothing to talk about - said the FIFA refereeing authorities after Szymon Marciniak's performance in the match Fluminense - Al Ahly (2-0), the first semi-final of the Club World Cup. FIFA cancelled the meeting at which the Pole's officiating was to be discussed because... he did not make any mistakes and did not make any important decision that would arouse controversy among experts. In FIFA and UEFA, the standards are such that the observer discusses their work with the referees most often right after the match, if there is time, possibly after dinner, or the next morning. During tournaments, observers and possibly members of the FIFA or UEFA Referees' Committees come to the referee's locker room right after the match to congratulate them or say something briefly, but errors, controversies or particularly interesting situations are usually discussed during so-called debriefings. They are meetings attended by all or almost all referees appointed to the tournament to learn from their own or their colleagues' mistakes, discuss controversies based on video clips and try to find the best possible course of action in future similar situations. Usually, several to a dozen different situations are discussed, because in fact, this is how many referees make incorrect, controversial, or simply interesting decisions during one match. Fans usually do not know about them, because they are often decisions about details that are difficult for non-refereeing people to notice, or because most of these mistakes do not have much significance or impact on the result or course of the match. However, they are important for the assessment and development of the referees.
The decision made by the FIFA refereeing authorities after the Fluminense-Al Ahly match is an absolute exception. Matches are extremely rare in which experts, referee instructors or members of referee authorities do not find any significant error or important controversial situation that should be discussed at a meeting with all referees. Such a unique situation happened to Szymon Marciniak. The semi-final of the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia led in such a way that the FIFA refereeing authorities decided that it was impossible to make interesting clips from this match with decisions that were wrong, controversial, or simply interesting for other reasons, because there were no such decisions in this match. There have been situations that can be shown to beginner and intermediate referees, perhaps those aspiring to promotion to national, level, but certainly not to professional, international referees or even top referees in the world, and only such referees participate in this tournament. The Club World Championship is a tournament for candidates to referee the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Therefore, FIFA - in order not to waste the time of judges and instructors on meetings about situations that were simple for them and obvious decisions - canceled the debriefing after the first semi-final. This, however, does not mean that Marciniak had nothing to do in this match. On the contrary - he made a decisive decision for the match. With the score 0-0, in the 67th minute of the game, he gave a penalty kick to Fluminense, from which John Arias scored a goal to make it 1-0. Egyptian Al Ahly fans protested but replays of the situation from various cameras confirm that the foul was obvious and any decision other than a self-imposed penalty kick would expose the referee to a downgrade for his work. Also, the possible awarding of a penalty kick after VAR intervention would have an adverse impact on Marciniak's assessment because he was not covered in this situation, the foul did not happen behind his back, and he did not have to deal with something more important at the same time, and therefore: responsibility for making the right decision it was 100 percent his. Marcelo was winning the battle for position - although he was at a similar distance from the ball as Pau, the Brazilian was the first to put his foot to the ball and in front of the opponent. When most of Marcelo's leg was in front of Pau, when the Brazilian was already placing his foot near the ball, the Al Ahly player nudged his leg, pushing it in such a way that Marcelo's foot on the pitch twisted, which could have caused pain and certainly caused him to fall, i.e. interruption of the action in a careless manner. This is best seen in the replays from the slow-motion camera placed behind the goal line of Al Ahly's goal, in front of the scene of the incident.
Source: TVP/Rafal Rostkowski
