Polish football referee (born 1981)
Szymon Marciniak Born (1981-01-07 ) 7 January 1981 (age 44) Płock ,Poland Domestic Years League Role 2009–present Ekstraklasa Referee International Years League Role 2011–present FIFA listedReferee
Szymon Marciniak (Polish: [ˈʂɨmɔn marˈt͡ɕiɲak] ; born 7 January 1981) is a Polishfootball referee . He is considered one of the best rated international referees of his generation.[ 1] [ 2] He has refereed the2022 FIFA World Cup final betweenArgentina andFrance , the2018 UEFA Super Cup betweenReal Madrid andAtlético Madrid ,[ 3] and the2023 UEFA Champions League final betweenManchester City andInter Milan . For 2022 and 2023, he was named "The World's Best Referee" by theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).[ 4] [ 5]
Marciniak was born in 1981 inPłock ,Poland . The first sport he practiced in his youth wascycling . He changed this sport for football at the age of 15.[ 6] He played in the junior squad ofWisła Płock claiming the fourth place at the Polish Junior Championships with the team.[ 7] He also briefly played for the GermanRegionalliga club VfB Annaberg-Buchholz.[ 8] He began his career as a football referee at the age of 21. Initially, he combined refereeing football matches with playing as an amateur footballer. In 2006, he switched to working as a football referee professionally.[ 9]
He officiated his first match in Poland's top professional league in 2009 at theGIEKSA Arena , in a game betweenGKS Bełchatów andOdra Wodzisław Śląski . Since then, he has refereed more than 300 matches inEkstraklasa having been appointed the head referee in the 2016Polish Cup final match as well as the 2017Polish Super Cup .[ 10] [ 11]
As of 2021, he has given 1201 yellow cards (on average four yellow cards per game), 79 red cards and has awarded 131 penalty kicks in over 300 Ekstraklasa matches he has refereed.[ 12]
International career [ edit ] Marciniak became aFIFA referee in 2011.[ 13] The same year, he also debuted as a referee in theEuropa League in the qualifying match betweenAalesunds FK andFerencvárosi TC .[ 14] In 2012, he refereed his first match in theUEFA Champions League betweenFK Ventspils andMolde FK .[ 15] He refereed at2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers ,[ 16] beginning with the Group F match betweenPortugal andAzerbaijan .[ 17]
On 20 March 2015, he was appointed to the UEFA Elite referee list, finding himself among the top 27 football referees in Europe.[ 18] On 30 June 2015, he was the referee for the2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Final .[ 19]
Marciniak during a pre-match warm-up in 2021 In March 2016, he refereed his first match in the knockout phase of theChampions League , a Round of 16 match betweenReal Madrid andAS Roma . One month later, he officiated the quarterfinal betweenBayern Munich andS.L. Benfica .[ 20]
He participated in theUEFA Euro 2016 and refereed three matches: Spain-Czech Republic and Iceland-Austria in the group stage of the tournament as well as Germany-Slovakia in the knockout phase.
On 29 March 2018, FIFA announced that he would officiate some matches at2018 FIFA World Cup along with Paweł Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz as assistant referees.[ 21] He officiated two group stage matches: Argentina-Iceland and Germany-Sweden.[ 22] He was also selected as the referee for the 2018UEFA Super Cup final match betweenReal Madrid andAtlético Madrid .[ 23]
On 15 December 2021, he was appointed to referee of the semi-final match between Qatar and Algeria (1–2) at the2021 FIFA Arab Cup hosted byQatar .[ 24]
On 19 May 2022, he was selected to officiate matches at the2022 FIFA World Cup . He officiated one match in the group stage (France's 2–1 win over Denmark) and one match in the Round of 16 (Argentina's 2–1 victory over Australia).[ 25] On 15 December 2022, it was announced that he would officiate theWorld Cup final betweenArgentina andFrance , becoming the first Polish referee to do so.[ 26] [ 27] [ 28] His performance in the final was highly praised by many commentators as well as fellow referees includingPierluigi Collina ,Howard Webb ,Keith Hackett ,Lutz Wagner [ 29] [ 30] andThorsten Kinhöfer .[ 31]
On 17 May 2023, he refereed theUEFA Champions League semi-final match betweenManchester City andReal Madrid (4–0).[ 32] Five days later, on 22 May 2023, he was appointed to referee the2022–23 Cypriot Cup final betweenAEL Limassol andOmonia on 24 May,[ 33] as well as the2023 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City andInter Milan on 10 June,[ 34] becoming only the second referee in football history to officiate the World Cup final and the Champions League final in the same season.[ 35] On 22 December 2023, Marciniak took charge of the2023 FIFA Club World Cup Final in Jeddah between Manchester City andFluminense FC .[ 36]
At theUEFA Euro 2024 , he officiated the group stage match betweenBelgium andRomania and a round of 16 match betweenSwitzerland andItaly .[ 37] He was also appointed the fourth official for the final match betweenSpain andEngland .[ 38]
On 1 June 2023, it was reported that three days earlier Marciniak spoke at an entrepreneur conference co-organised bySławomir Mentzen , a right-winglibertarian politician and leader of theConfederation Liberty and Independence in Poland, who has in the past been accused of anti-semitic and anti-LGBT statements.[ 39] His attendance at the event was first disclosed by the Polish anti-racist organisationNever Again .[ 40] Marciniak responded to Never Again's report by releasing a statement in which he dissociated himself from the views presented by the organizer stressing that he "always puts fair play and respect for other people first".[ 41] [ 42] Ultimately, UEFA announced Marciniak would remain as referee for the UEFA Champions League final scheduled for 10 June.[ 43]
He has two children with wife Magdalena: a son, Bartosz (born 2003) and a daughter, Natalia (born 2012).[ 44] He practicesMuay Thai and playsbadminton as an amateur.[ 45] [ 46]
In 2021, he was diagnosed withtachycardia after having recovered fromCOVID-19 infection, which prevented him from officiating matches at theUEFA Euro 2020 .[ 47]
He is the protagonist of theCanal+ documentary series entitledSędziowie (Referees)[ 48] andNa podsłuchu presenting the work of football referees.[ 49] In 2022, he appeared as a guest at theKuba Wojewódzki talk show.[ 50] He also received the Personality of the Year Award in thePiłka nożna magazine plebiscite .[ 51] In 2023, he appeared in the fourth episode of the 8th edition ofPolsat 's TV showHell's Kitchen. Piekielna Kuchnia .[ 52] The same year, he was awarded the Laude Probus Medal by the council authorities of his hometown ofPłock .[ 53]
Major national team competition [ edit ] ^ "Ekstraklasa. Szymon Marciniak, czyli najlepszy sędzia też człowiek" .Sport.pl . November 2016.Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 .^ "Najlepsi polscy sędziowie – ranking. Od Mycia do Marciniaka" .weszlo.com . 19 February 2021.Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved17 March 2021 .^ "Who is referee for FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France" . 15 December 2022.Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved15 December 2022 .^ "Szymon Marciniak at the top!" .iffhs.com .Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved10 January 2023 .^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE 2023" .IFFHS . 3 January 2024.Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved5 January 2024 .^ "Szymon Marciniak sędzią finału mundialu. Co wiadomo o jego życiu prywatnym?" .sport.interia.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved18 December 2022 .^ "Ostrołęczanin grał razem z sędzią Marciniakiem. Grabowski: kiedyś strzygł się na "grzybka" " (in Polish).Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved24 December 2022 .^ "Szymon Marciniak zaczynał od kolarstwa, trenuje muay thai. "Jak jesteś taki cwaniak, to sam złap za gwizdek" " .eurosport.tvn24.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved24 December 2022 .^ "Szymon Marciniak: Gdy zostałem sędzią, zrozumiałem, jakim byłem dupkiem" (in Polish). 14 July 2017.Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "Szymon Marciniak poprowadzi finał Pucharu Polski" (in Polish). 24 April 2016.Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "Znamy sędziego Superpucharu Polski! Mecz poprowadzi Szymon Marciniak" (in Polish).Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ Łukasz Rogowski (1 March 2021)."PKO Ekstraklasa. 300 meczów Szymona Marciniaka w najwyższej klasie rozgrywkowej" .sport.interia.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 . ^ FIFA."Poland: Referees" . Retrieved on 28 April 2013. ^ "2011/12, Second qualifying round, 2nd leg" .Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "2012/13, Second qualifying round, 2nd leg" .Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "Szymon Marciniak football referee stats - WorldReferee.com" .worldreferee.com .Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 .^ FIFA."Match Report – Portugal – Azerbaijan 3:0 (0:0)" . 11 September 2012. Retrieved on 28 April 2013. ^ "Szymon Marciniak poprowadzi finał mundialu w Katarze. Kim jest Polak sędziujący najważniejsze wydarzenie MŚ 2022? [SYLWETKA]" .sport.tvp.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved24 December 2022 .^ "MME 2015: Szymon Marciniak sędzią turnieju finałowego" (in Polish). 14 March 2015.Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "LM: Szymon Marciniak sędzią meczu Bayern - Benfica" .90minut.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved20 December 2022 .^ "List of Match Officials at 2018 FIFA World Cup" (PDF) .fifa.com . 29 March 2018. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on 29 March 2018. Retrieved31 March 2018 .^ Robert Summerscales (17 December 2022)."Szymon Marciniak Chosen As World Cup Final Referee After Anthony Taylor Ruled Out" .si.com .Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 . ^ "WIELKIE WYRÓŻNIENIE DLA SZYMONA MARCINIAKA. POLAK POSĘDZIUJE MECZ O SUPERPUCHAR EUROPY" (in Polish).Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved9 December 2020 .^ "Qatar 1-2 Algeria" .fifa.com .Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved20 December 2022 .^ Jude Summerfield (16 December 2022)."Szymon Marciniak: The referee officiating the 2022 World Cup final" .90min.com .Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 . ^ "World Cup referees 2022: Complete list of officials, VARs and assistants names, countries and languages spoken" .Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved19 November 2022 .^ Seth Vertelney."Szymon Marciniak will referee the 2022 World Cup final" .eu.usatoday.com .Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 . ^ Jaz, Marcin (15 December 2022)."Wielkie wyróżnienie dla Szymona Marciniaka! Polak poprowadzi finał mundialu" (in Polish).Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved15 December 2022 . ^ Stuart Dowell."Poland's Marciniak best World Cup final referee in history, say experts" .thefirstnews .Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022 . ^ "Szymon Marciniak was arguably the best World Cup final referee so far" . 19 December 2022. Retrieved20 December 2022 .^ "Final-Schiedsrichter wird gefeiert" .sport1.de (in German). 18 December 2022.Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved20 December 2022 .^ "Who is Szymon Marciniak, the referee for Man City vs Real Madrid, Champions League semi-final second leg?" .en.as.com . 17 May 2023.Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved18 May 2023 .^ "Ο Σιμόν Μαρτσίνιακ θα διαιτητεύσει τον τελικό του Κυπέλλου Coca – Cola" (in Greek).Cypriot Football Federation . 22 May 2023.Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved22 May 2023 .^ "Referee teams appointed for 2023 UEFA club competition finals" .UEFA . 22 May 2023.Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved22 May 2023 .^ Aditya Chauhan (10 June 2023)."Szymon Marciniak becomes second referee to manage World Cup and Champions League finals in same season" .khelnow.com . Retrieved11 June 2023 . ^ Graham Dunbar (22 December 2023)."Man City confirmed as world's best club in 2023 after winning fifth trophy" .apnews.com .Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved23 December 2023 . ^ "Which officials are in charge of the EURO 2024 matches? Every referee appointment" .UEFA . 13 July 2024. Retrieved13 July 2024 .^ "Marciniak joins elite team for Euro 2024 final as fourth official" .-polskieradio.pl . 11 July 2024. Retrieved13 July 2024 .^ "Mentzen: piątka Konfederacji to nie są moje poglądy. No to przypominamy" (in Polish). 31 March 2023.Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved1 June 2023 .^ Syal, Rajeev (1 June 2023)."Champions League final referee 'spoke at event with far-right leader' " .The Guardian .ISSN 0261-3077 .Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved1 June 2023 . ^ "Szymon Marciniak zabrał głos. Jest oficjalne oświadczenie" .sportowefakty.wp.pl (in Polish). 1 June 2023.Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved1 June 2023 .^ "Sędzia Szymon Marciniak przeprasza. UEFA ujawnia treść pisma" .pap.pl (in Polish). 2 June 2023.Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 .^ "UEFA statement concerning Szymon Marciniak" .UEFA . 2 June 2023.Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved2 June 2023 .^ "Szymon Marciniak sędzią finału mundialu. Co wiadomo o jego życiu prywatnym?" .sport.interia.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved17 December 2022 .^ Leon Czmiel (17 December 2022)."Kim jest Szymon Marciniak? Informacje i ciekawostki o polskim arbitrze" .lubsport.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved17 December 2022 . ^ Kamila Jamrożek (23 May 2023)."Szymon Marciniak to polski sędzia światowej klasy. Już przeszedł do historii" .tvn.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 . ^ Jakub Maj (16 December 2022)."Mundial 2022. Szymon Marciniak: Miałem chorobę serca. Musiałem zrezygnować z sędziowania" .gol24.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved18 December 2022 . ^ Jacek Czaplwski (22 December 2021)."Powstał serial dokumentalny "Sędziowie" o pracy arbitrów z Ekstraklasy. Pierwszy odcinek w Canal+ Sport 25" .gol24.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 . ^ Tomasz Górski (24 June 2023)."Kamery Canal+ na meczu A-klasy. Sędziował Szymon Marciniak, tłumy na trybunach [WIDEO]" .i.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 . ^ Paweł Karpiarz (18 May 2022)."Marciniak przyznał się u Wojewódzkiego do największego błędu. "Żarło mi dwa lata" " .sport.pl (in Polish).Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved24 August 2023 . ^ "Gala Tygodnika "Piłka Nożna": Szymon Marciniak Osobowością Roku 2022" .polsatsport.pl (in Polish). 21 January 2023.Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 .^ " "Hell's Kitchen": Gwiazdy ze świata piłki nożnej w show" .polsat.pl (in Polish). 21 March 2023.Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 .^a b "Medal "Laude Probus" dla Szymona Marciniaka. Radni także za przyznaniem mu tytułu "Zasłużony dla Płocka" " .sport.tvn.pl (in Polish). 30 March 2023.Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved24 August 2023 .^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE" .IFFHS . 10 January 2023.Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved3 January 2024 .^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE 2023" .IFFHS . 3 January 2024.Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved3 January 2024 .^ "Gala Tygodnika "Piłka Nożna": Szymon Marciniak Osobowością Roku 2022" .polsatsport.pl (in Polish). 21 January 2023.Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved9 May 2024 .^ "Szymon Marciniak ze Złotą Odznaką "Za zasługi dla sportu" " .gov.pl (in Polish). 16 June 2023. Retrieved9 May 2024 .
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