Szymon Marciniak will referee the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan on Saturday. The 42-year-old will be only the second referee in history to whistle the World Cup final (Argentina - France) and the most important club match on the planet in one season. The first was Howard Webb in 2010. This fact already indicates what status he currently has. He's the best. And that's what the Saudis want. If they bring in top players, top referees must whistle for them.
Marciniak is known and respected in Saudi Arabia. He has been refereeing individual matches there for years - most recently, in May, the final of the King's Cup of Saudi Arabia, Al Hilal – Al Wehda. But as we hear - now it's about something bigger. To work permanently, refereeing the most important matches, but also being responsible for creating a network of other great referees who would referee in the Saudi league, which would increase its prestige. According to our information, the Saudis tempt Marciniak with a contract over several years (to our knowledge, it is three seasons) and a multi-million-dollar salary - absolutely unheard of among referees in the world of football, even at the highest level. According to "Business Insider", Marciniak received $10,000 from FIFA for refereeing the World Cup final. For the entire tournament, he was paid $93,000. The Saudi offer is huge, but there are also catches. If Marciniak would accept such a lucrative offer, and it would involve moving to the Arabian Peninsula, the question is how would such a transfer affect his presence on the international arena? Under normal circumstances, nominations for the FIFA badges are made annually by home federations - in this case, Polish Federation (PZPN). Would Marciniak have to give up something by accepting the offer from the Saudis, or are these things to be dealt with? It is probably too early for such speculations. For now, this is "only" an offer, although according to our knowledge, it is cosmic. Like that of Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema - with proportions for the referee. On Sunday morning, Marciniak will wake up with the feeling that he has refereed the two most important matches in the world. It will be difficult for him to add more in the near future. Euro 2024 final? Probably too close to give it to him again. Perhaps he will decide that the offer from Saudi Arabia is the one that cannot be refused? And if he were to accept it, there would probably be only few people who would be surprised by this decision.
Source: Meczyki
