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#Post#: 81351--------------------------------------------------
Interesting Article on Refereeing world Euro 24
By: dave26 Date: July 16, 2024, 1:35 am
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Below is an article I copied and pasted from refereeing world on
my FB please delete if not allowed
Will Marciniak leave UEFA for Saudi Arabia?
“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 the World Cup in
2025 and 2026 preparing as a Saudi Pro League referee. The UEFA
Champions League controversy would only be watched on
television” – says Rafal Rostkowski.
– The referee of the Euro 2024 final will be the French Francois
Letexier. What is the meaning of this UEFA’s 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...
– And for Szymon Marciniak, what is the context of this decision
of UEFA?
– 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 U.S., 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 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 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 Polish
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 the 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 Slovenia-Portugal match.
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 Referee 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 )
#Post#: 81358--------------------------------------------------
Re: Interesting Article on Refereeing world Euro 24
By: Hertsref123 Date: July 16, 2024, 9:33 am
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Can’t argue with any of that tbf.
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