While recent European finals have been plagued by officiating controversies, the European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League (UCL) final was expected to be a clean slate for referee Simone Marchiniak, whose far-right political activism has garnered her some controversy.
He is the referee UEFA has assigned to the UCL final between Inter Milan and Manchester City at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 11. Marciniak is a Polish referee who rose to prominence during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The World Cup final was particularly tricky to call, with Argentina and France exchanging goals and three penalty kicks, but he was praised for keeping the game controversy-free.
In the recently concluded UEFA Europa League final, where Sevilla defeated AS Roma on penalties to win the title, the English referee, Anthony Taylor, was criticized for his officiating and even received threats from fans and officials. So there was a lot of interest in the officiating of the final.
But according to the British newspaper The Guardian, Marciniak’s job was in jeopardy before the game even started. He had made comments at a far-right political event in Poland. UEFA received a report and is investigating the matter.스포츠토토
It’s not just the political activities that are considered acceptable, but the fact that he supported an extreme group with slogans like “against Jews, gays, abortion, taxes, and the European Union”. The group has also ridiculed the anti-apartheid movement, which UEFA and the rest of the soccer world have been heavily involved in.
In response, anti-racism organizations have accused Marciniak of far-right activities. However, since the event was a mix of public and political events, including a beer-drinking competition, the nature of the incident could be completely different depending on the intentions of Marciniak and how informed he was.