Champions League final referee Szymon Marciniak got the support of Poland’s government on Friday as UEFA considered removing him from the match because he spoke at a business event run by a far-right politician.
Polish media reported that Marciniak, who was the referee for the World Cup final in December, had been dropped from officiating the match between Manchester City and Inter Milan on June 10 in Istanbul but efforts were being made to restore him.
UEFA said it would announce a decision Friday after “reviewing all the evidence” of an accusation it said it took “very seriously.”
Marciniak wrote on his Instagram account late Thursday that he "never supported nor legitimized any political party, organization or individual politician.”
He was defended Friday by Polish sports minister Kamil Bortniczuk, who wrote in a letter to UEFA circulated by national media that the referee's speech at an event this week had “nothing to do with politics.”
It was a “harmful manipulation,” the sports minister wrote, to link the referee to the politics of Slawomir Mentzen. Mentzen is a leader of the populist Confederation party, which has promoted antisemitic, homophobic and sexist views.
The 42-year-old Marciniak is widely seen as soccer’s top referee. He worked the World Cup final between Argentina and France in December.
On Monday, Marciniak spoke at a business and networking event in Poland. The organizers of the event included Mentzen, who used social media to praise Marciniak as the standout speaker.
Warsaw-based anti-racism group Never Again alerted UEFA and on Thursday called on Marciniak to distance himself from “Mentzen and his brand of toxic far-right politics.”
Marciniak made two statements late Thursday, to Never Again and on his own Instagram account, explaining his views.
“I do, strongly and clearly, dissociate myself from any kind of radical, racist, or antisemitic views, statements or actions,” Marciniak wrote on Instagram.
Neither statement from Marciniak offered an apology or acknowledged the possibility of an error of judgment.
Bortniczuk wrote to UEFA that Marciniak gave a 45-minute speech of a “strictly business, motivational, and inspirational character,” and did not have contact with Mentzen.
UEFA said in a statement Thursday “the whole football community abhor the ‘values’ that are promoted by the (political) group in question and takes these allegations very seriously.”
Polish soccer great Zbigniew Boniek, a long-time member of the UEFA executive committee, was trying to help Marciniak, Polish media reported.
Marciniak also refereed for FIFA at the 2018 World Cup and for UEFA at the 2016 European Championship, as well as in club competition games over several seasons. He missed Euro 2020 while recovering from a heart issue after a COVID-19 infection.
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Associated Press writer Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.
