This is probably the last year in the career of Marciniak. He can already in May say goodbye to Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup, after the World Cup – finish his international career and say goodbye to FIFA and UEFA competitions, and in the autumn – start a career, for example, in Saudi Arabia. Unless there is an agreement between PZPN, FIFA and SAFF.
7 January 2026 is the day of the 45th birthday of Szymon Marciniak. Years ago, this would mean that, by the end of the year, precisely because of his age, he would have to end his international career. However, FIFA and UEFA, like other continental confederations and many national unions, have changed the rules for fear of allegations of age discrimination and lawsuits. They have abolished rigid age limits also due to the fact that more and more members of the football authorities simply understand that resigning good or very good referees only because of their age – all the more so with too few referees, noticeable and increasingly felt all over the world – is completely pointless, even an action to the detriment of football. So, also in international competitions, now the referee can be at the age of 45. For example, Australian Alireza Faghani, who refereed last year Chelsea – Paris Saint-Germain, the final of the FIFA Club World Cup, and who is one of the favourites to lead the matches of this year's World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada, will turn 48 on March 21. There are also many other referees, even older, who also do better on the field than some younger and less experienced referees. Marciniak could also referee for the next few years in the FIFA and UEFA competitions, but... he has attractive proposals that in the current reality argue with the work in the UEFA Champions League, Euro 2028 in the UK and Ireland, the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 or possibly in the World Cup in 2030, which, on the occasion of the centenary of the World Cup, will be played in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay.
Saudi Arabia is waiting for Simon Marciniak
Saudi Arabia, for example, has been tempting Marciniak for years and getting stronger. The SAFF authorities want the famous referee from Poland to work there permanently: as a referee, VAR and perhaps also in other roles. It is rather clear that after a possible transfer to the Arabian Peninsula, Marciniak would become a leader, perhaps a coordinator, perhaps even a boss, and certainly a person who would contribute to the development of refereeing in this region. The Saudis care a lot about this, because they want to prepare as best as possible for the World Cup, which will be held in their country in 2034. The Sheikhs are still waiting for Marciniak, and meanwhile they invite him to individual matches, when the Pole has a "window" in his calendar. Marciniak declared that he will continue to referee mainly in Ekstraklasa, the Polish Cup and UEFA competitions, prior to the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada and then, at the turn of June and July 2026, will be available for other competitions. Italy's Pierluigi Collina, who is the Head of the FIFA Referees Committee, very much wanted the Pole to perform in the next World Cup, his third, and for FIFA - the biggest in history. As many as 48 teams will take part in it – this is a record. The number of matches will also be a record – as many as 104. That means there will be a lot more work for referees than Qatar, for example, in 2022. There, 32 teams played a total of 64 matches. Whether FIFA appoints more referees or maybe the appointed ones will be assigned more matches, it is clear that Marciniak is still much needed by FIFA.
Guinness record within the reach of Szymon Marciniak
The Pole promised Collina his willingness to work in this year’s World Cup – and he also has a goal: to equal or break the World Cup record. Currently, the most World Cup matches were refereed by Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan – in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 he had a total of 11 matches. In second place in this respect is Nestor Pitana from Argentina, who in 2014 and 2018 refereed a total of 9 matches. Eight were refereed by Joel Quiniou of France, Benito Archundia of Mexico and Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay. Szymon Marciniak refereed in a total of 5 matches during the World Cups in Russia and Qatar. That’s 6 fewer than Irmatov, but this year’s World Cup will be a record and creates record opportunities – one that no referee has had so far... In addition to the three rounds in the group stage, there will also be five rounds in the knock-out stage. So, it seems that one referee could perform even in 8 games, but in practice it is rather unlikely. For example, because FIFA does not broadly appoint the same referee both for the semi-final and for the final or the match for the third place in the same competitions (the appointment of Marciniak by UEFA for the semi-final and the Champions League final in 2023 and then in the same year by FIFA for the semi-final and final of the Club World Cup was an extraordinary sequence of exceptions). However, since in the past it happened that some referees had 5 games in one World Cup – this was done by Horacio Elizondo from Argentina and Archundia in 2006 in Germany and Irmatov in 2010 in South Africa – it is possible that in this year’s World Cup of 104 matches, a referee will have 6 or 7 matches. If it succeeds, Marciniak would become a co-recordist or a stand-alone World Cup record holder and would also go to the Guinness World Records, where currently Irmatov still shows as a record holder.
Fortune from the Saudis or Champions League record?
The nomination for Marciniak for the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada is practically certain. The issue of breaking the record depends mainly on the current form of the Polish referee and the course of the tournament. What is uncertain is what the Polish judge will do after this World Cup. Of course, he could still referee in the UEFA competition, if only to break the Champions League record. Felix Brych of Germany refereed 69 matches in it. Marciniak currently has 59 matches. In the spring, he can count on a few game appointments in these competitions, but certainly not enough to improve Brych's score even before the World Cup. To become a Champions League record holder, the Pole would have to referee in Europe for at least one more season, namely 2026/27, or two. This, in turn, would mean that it could also be available to UEFA for the Euro 2028 tournament and at the same time would have a chance to realize its dream of participating in the Olympics, which in two years will be organized in Los Angeles. But Saudi Arabia is still tempting, the sheikhs are counting on Marciniak already in the autumn... What's the problem? Why does the offer from the Saudis contradict the goals or dreams of the Polish referee? Currently, Szymon Marciniak is a professional referee with a contract binding him with PZPN. The agreement allows him to referee FIFA and UEFA matches, but he obliges him primarily to referee matches of Ekstraklasa, the Polish Cup and others designated by the PZPN. If Marciniak decided to make a foreign transfer, for example to Saudi Arabia, the Polish contract would be cancelled because the PZPN has no interest in paying the salary to a referee working permanently in Saudi Arabia. In addition, if Marciniak would resign from refereeing in Poland, PZPN would not nominate him to FIFA for the list of international referees for 2027. Poland has seven places on the list of main referees, and they are intended for referees working mainly in Poland. Failure to be nominated by PZPN could mean the end of his career in UEFA, unless he would be nominated to FIFA by another member association from Europe, but so far it does not appear to be. In theory, Marciniak could be nominated to FIFA by another country, even from another continent, for example by Saudi Arabia, but it is easy to imagine what controversy the phrase "Szymon Marciniak from Saudi Arabia" would arouse in the homeland... Therefore, it is rather difficult to imagine that Marciniak would accept a foreign passport or even more agree to change his citizenship. However, there is a scenario that until now was quiet, and which would allow both PZPN, FIFA, Saudis and would allow Marciniak to achieve his goals and dreams not yet achieved. In 2023, we published an article on TVPSPORT.PL entitled "Poland could have more FIFA referees if PZPN submits appropriate nominations". Poland currently has 7 international referees, as do many other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine. But for the most part, they are smaller countries or much smaller than Poland or with a much smaller number of referees. In addition, not all of these countries have a representative in the UEFA Elite category, while Poland has: Szymon Marciniak." We also listed the football powerhouses that have 10 FIFA referees, and we also wrote: "Portugal and Russia have 9 referees on the FIFA list, while Australia and Peru have 8 each." Russia still has 9 spots – 9 referees from this country using the FIFA badge... What does an article from less than three years ago have to the future of Marciniak? Well, the fact that the matter is still relevant, and the current situation of Marciniak may become the key to a positive settlement of this matter. If there was an agreement between FIFA, PZPN and SAFF – PZPN could receive 8 spots on the list of FIFA referees, Marciniak could transfer to Saudi Arabia and use the FIFA badge from the Polish list there, FIFA could continue to use his experience and skills, for example during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and the UEFA Champions League record could be beaten by flying to Madrid, Barcelona or Liverpool. PZPN could terminate the professional contract with Marciniak but would have to nominate him to FIFA on the list of international referees at least for the years 2027 and 2028. PZPN would have to do this regardless of whether and how many matches Marciniak would referee in Poland during those years, for example, during a break in the competition in Saudi Arabia, to maintain the basis for UEFA to treat him as a referee from the European union. FIFA, taking into account both refereeing issues, especially Marciniak’s class, as well as the development of club football in Poland confirmed by the promotion of Polish clubs in the UEFA club ranking – would award PZPN eight spots on the list of FIFA referees from 2027. At least in 2027 and 2028, one of them would be occupied by Marciniak, but after the end of his career, PZPN would still have 8 spots at its disposal. Thanks to this, FIFA could still use Marciniak as referee, for example, during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, an event that Marciniak lacks the most for the collection. SAFF could hire Marciniak on a "full-time basis" with one caveat: that he would be able to fly to Poland for matches, as he flew from Poland to Saudi Arabia when he was under contract with PZPN. It's a dream scenario for Marciniak. He could achieve all the goals and his refereeing wishes, and in addition he could still use the offers of... the advertising market in Poland. In addition to his family and loved ones, this is the most important reason for him to appear in Poland and in Polish mass media as often as possible.
Source: Rafal Rostkowski/TVP