“UEFA may lose not only Daniele Orsato after such decisions, but also Szymon Marciniak. I would not be surprised if the Pole will soon accept the offer from Saudi Arabia and prepare for the World Cup 2026 as a Saudi Pro League referee. He would watch the UEFA Champions League controversy only on television” – says former FIFA AR Rafal Rostkowski.
– The referee of the Euro 2024 final will be the French Francois Letexier. What is the meaning of this UEFA decision?
– If it would have been the only surprising decision of UEFA during this tournament, its reception would be completely different. Let’s assume that one semi-final is refereed by Daniele Orsato, the other by Szymon Marciniak, and Francois Letexier has the final. There would also be discussions and comments that he did not deserve it so early, that it hurt especially Orsato, but also unfair to Romanian Istvan Kovacs, who earned the semi-final in this tournament or at least a quarter-final. But in such a situation, it could be assumed that this was the arbitrary assessment of the UEFA Referees Committee. But the football authorities have made so many decisions in refereeing matters with an unambiguous political aspect that the nomination of Letexier is only the last missing puzzle for this unpleasant image. This is a bad signal for the referees, because it shows that decisions made on the pitch are not the most important for their assessment, for their fate or promotions. That there is something else more important. It even sounds terrible, you could say: it's a shame to talk...
– What is the context of this UEFA decision for Szymon Marciniak?
– It is certainly a very serious reason for Szymon Marciniak to think about what he is doing here? How did UEFA appreciate him for years? The UEFA Super Cup match in 2018 was meant to comfort him after the World Cup in Russia as a young, talented and promising referee. Cool, you can thank UEFA, congratulations, because the Super Cup sounds prestigious. But in fact, it is a distinction for referees climbing to the top, not a prize for the best. The final of the Europa League or even the Conference League were not awarded. For the final of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA set him when they had such a deep staffing crisis that UEFA had to make an emergency call to sent him to the rematch-rematch of the Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final match, precisely for the lack of serious contenders, Marciniak refereed the Manchester City – Inter Milan final. In addition, he refereed the most difficult matches of the Champions League and other club competitions, including the Roma-Milan match, or during Euro 2024, the duel between Italy and Switzerland. UEFA had a lot of reasons to appreciate Marciniak – for his merits, for his skills, for his current form, for disarmament in an unusual way of the Swiss-military match against Italy – with at least the semi-final of the tournament in Germany. They did not do it, because Slavko Vincić from Slovenia and Felix Zwayer from Germany were more important for UEFA. For Vincic, Zwayer and Letexier, UEFA decided to sacrifice the best and most deserving referees in recent months or years: Marciniak, Orsato and Kovacs. Politics has always played a big role in refereeing, but I don’t think it’s ever been seen so clearly during the European Championships.
– Would accepting an offer from Saudi Arabia mean the end of the international career of Szymon Marciniak?
- Not necessarily. In Europe, presumably yes, because UEFA would like all its referees to work regularly on the Old Continent and to be representatives of the countries associated in it. If Marciniak had signed a contract to work in Saudi Arabia, working on a contract in the Polish Ekstraklasa would be a very difficult and very controversial issue. For Marciniak, the simpler solution may be to give up refereeing in Poland and Europe, focusing on refereeing in the Saudi Pro League and... representing Saudi Arabia in international competitions, under the auspices of the Asian Football Confederation, as well as FIFA. The Saudis are desperate to acquire Marciniak, so in addition to the appropriate financial incentive, they would also be able to grant the Pole a place on the list of international referees “from Saudi Arabia”. The same happened with Alireza Faghani from Iran, who already represents Australia, and Jarred Gillett from Australia, who is refereeing in the English Premier League and got a place on the FIFA list from The FA pool. If they could, then Marciniak could also become a member of the FIFA and AFC lists from the Football Federation of Saudi Arabia pool.
- Next year there will be a Club World Cup in the US, for the first time with 32 clubs, and in two years the World Cup will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, for the first time with 48 teams. Does Marciniak have a chance to participate, even if he will no longer be a UEFA referee?
- Of course, if he wants and will still be in good shape, he is a sure candidate to work in both tournaments. He could prepare for them working in Saudi Arabia or... in the United States. The American-Canadian MLS league also needs the best referees, and accepts referees from many countries, so the door for Marciniak is open there. I know that this topic has been discussed with Marciniak before. The Pole has a lot to choose from, and UEFA... now has much more to lose.
– And Euro 2028? Will we see any Polish referees?
- If Bartosz Frankowski does not break into the UEFA Elite category soon, his chances of such success will decrease every year. The next in the queue is Damian Sylwestrak, followed by Damian Kos and Lukasz Kuzma. I wish them good luck, but the facts are that, so far, the only referee from Poland in the history of the European Championships is Szymon Marciniak. I would rather expect a second Robert Lewandowski in Poland than a second Szymon Marciniak. (Source: Kanal Sportowi)
The way Szymon Marciniak, Daniele Orsato and Istvan Kovacs were treated by UEFA is a scandal. The appointment of the three most important Euro 2024 matches has nothing to do with the assessment of the referees’ performances. The nomination of Francois Letexier to referee the final only confirms that UEFA’s decisions are purely political. Francois Letexier is a great talent, one of the best referees of this tournament, but the nomination for the European Championship final of a referee with no experience even in the Champions League semi-finals is an exaggeration. Even more so because Letexier in May, in an extremely spectacular way, distorted the result of the match Indonesia – Guinea, where the qualification to the football tournament of the Olympic Games in Paris was at stake. He awarded a penalty kick for Guinea for a foul committed clearly outside the penalty area. He also made other significant mistakes. In this way, the Frenchman eliminated Indonesia. Unfortunately, FIFA did not make sure that the referee was protected by the VAR system in that match.
The three best referees of this year in Europe were the Pole Szymon
Marciniak, Italian Daniele Orsato and Romanian Istvan Kovacs. Each of
them also confirmed their class during Euro 2024 and proved that the
nomination for any of them to referee the European Championship final
would be a decision based on the assessment of their work. It would
therefore be a just and, at least, absolutely acceptable decision. Istvan Kovacs is a prime example. He was a great referee in the UEFA club matches, and during Euro 2024, refereeing the Czech Republic-Turkey match, exemplary implemented UEFA’s guidelines on punishing with a yellow card any unsporting behavior that undermined the referee’s decision, their criticism or treatment of referees without due respect. UEFA wanted to punish literally all players, reserve players and those from the reserve bench, who even started an unauthorized discussion with the referee. That’s why Kovacs issued 20 cards in this match, including 18 yellow and 2 red cards. Did UEFA appreciate Kovacs and rewarded him? No, I don't think so. As both teams began criticizing the referee for “carding” their players, when 20 pages of criticism appeared in mass media, UEFA turned away from the referee, as if Kovacs’ decisions had nothing to do with them and for “general peace” they decided to send Kovacs home.
Daniele Orsato in the Germans' match with the Swiss was in a weaker form. The influential German people suggested that UEFA send him home as quickly as possible, preferably "with the Marciniak trio who refereed Real-Bayern". UEFA activists received such suggestions, some of them were on the verge of an attempt of pressure, but members of the football authorities smiled by saying and suggesting that everything was fine, that Orsato and Marciniak are candidates to conduct the most important matches and that in general such questions about sending home Orsato and Marciniak are premature. Orsato was unlucky. First, he fell out from the German support in the match against Switzerland, and then lost to the Slovenians in their match with Portugal. In this second match, he made very good decisions, but in politics it sometimes does not matter. After this match, it was decided that Orsato would not referee the final, even a semi-final, because both were already reserved – one for the referee from Slovenia – Slavko Vincic, and the other for the referee from Germany – Felix Zwayer. Orsato had no chance and was therefore sent home just after the quarter-final phase. We wrote about UEFA’s treatment of Orsato and the backstage of decision-making in his case in the article “Szymon Marciniak will referee the Euro 2024 final – says a VIP from UEFA. The others confirm, but more cautious.” After returning to Italy, Orsato confirmed that he learned he would not referee the final or a semi-final, right after the Round of 16 match Slovenia-Portugal.
Szymon Marciniak was also treated by UEFA in a scandalous way. The Pole, considered currently the best referee in the world, will return from Euro 2024 with only two matches as main referee. Italian Marco Guida, the worst referee of the tournament, compatriot with Roberto Rosetti, chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee, also refereed two matches. The President of UEFA, responsible for such treatment of referees, is Alexander Ceferin from Slovenia. (Source: TVP Sport/Rafal Rostkowski)
