Questioned by an anti-racist association on the participation of Szymon Marciniak in a rally carried out under the influence of the extreme right in Poland, UEFA finally decided to maintain the referee for the final of the Champions League between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
The whistle was accused of having participated in this meeting by speaking in particular, when it was organized by Slawomir Mentzen, a politician with extreme ideas. If he did not deny his presence and his speech, Szymon Marciniak on the other hand explained that he was completely unaware of the political side of his meeting, and simply spoke of his experience and his journey to the participants.
Terrible accusations against the referee of France-Argentina https://t.co/hRbVWdoJlI
— French Football Weekly.com (@Foot01_com) June 2, 2023
A justification that visibly convinced UEFA, which according to L’Equipe initially wanted to put an end to the debate by withdrawing the Champions League final from the Polish referee. But his version of the facts and the pressure also put by some Polish members within the body led to his maintaining his position for the match next week. The error of good faith will therefore be accepted, even if several speakers and big bosses of Polish companies had canceled their participation in this meeting on learning that it was organized by Slawomir Mentzen. For the professional arbitrator, the denial was in any case also brutal in the media and on his networks, where he explained that he was firmly opposed ” to all forms of hatred, discrimination and intolerance “.
