Szymon Marciniak was scheduled to referee the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 match between Liverpool and Galatasaray, but increasing lower back pain forced him to attend the pre-match warm-up at Anfield Road, less than 40 minutes before kick-off, not only with assistant referees Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik, as usual, but also, exceptionally, with Paweł Raczkowski, the fourth official, also a reserve. The pain was so severe that Marciniak decided not to take any chances and swapped roles with the fourth official. 15-20 minutes before the match, Raczkowski learned that after five and a half years since his last Champions League group stage match as head referee, he was returning to the competition in the same role – suddenly and immediately to the Round of 16. Shortly thereafter, various accounts of Marciniak's absence from Liverpool emerged in the media. Some suggested a recurrence of the injury that forced the referee to undergo surgery late last year, while others suggested a new, more serious injury that would allegedly mean a months-long break from officiating and exclusion from this year's World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
"The rumors about my injury, which would keep me out of refereeing for many months, are completely untrue. The truth is that I suffered a lumbar spine injury, which is the only reason I didn't officiate the Liverpool-Galatasaray match. I've already returned to training, albeit lightly for now, and from March 29th to April 3rd, I'll be participating in a FIFA training camp for UEFA World Cup candidates. "I'm very keen to participate in the third World Cup, which will be the biggest event of its kind in football history," said Szymon Marciniak, who previously officiated the World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Russia and Qatar each had 32 national teams playing 64 matches, while the USA, Mexico, and Canada – for the first time – will have 48 teams playing 104 matches. This could mean that referees will also be used in more matches than in previous tournaments.
Source: TVP Sport