He could have been removed because of his ties to an ultra-right politician.

Szymon Marchiniak is turning into one of the main refereeing stars. He did a great job in the World Cup final, and now he will try his hand at the decisive match of the Champions League.

Let’s take a look at his career path.

Marciniak used to be a tough midfielder. Once called one judge the worst in his career – and then worked with him

Szymon recalled that he was a tough midfielder (he played for Wisła Płock) and constantly complained about refereeing. Once the referee sent him off – Marchinyak said after the match that this was the worst referee in his memory. He replied: “If you think it’s so easy to judge, try it yourself.”

After the end of his playing career, Marciniak took refereeing courses – over time, international matches began to be trusted in him. In the game of youth teams under 21, Shimon even met with that referee:

“He accompanied me as the fourth judge. And I always told him that he made the right decision when he removed me! It’s a wonderful story.”

Marciniak believes that now playing experience helps him a lot: “If you played, then there is an understanding of how players react to different situations.” Before games, a Pole usually listens to music: “It helps to keep calm.”

How Marchiniak worked before: he made a mistake in the match of the Russian national team and missed the Euro due to tachycardia

Marciniak started refereeing in the top Polish division back in 2009, after 2 years he became a FIFA referee.

Sometimes he gets into scandals, but in general he judges confidently.

• In November 2020, Marchinyak played noisily in Russia’s match against the Turks in the Nations League. Türkiye got the right to a penalty, although Daler Kuzyaev seemed to have played the ball.

At that time, the Russians were already in the minority (Semenov was removed in the case) and were losing 1:2. Türkiye realized the chance.

It is doubly disappointing that the Russian national team scored the second after that – but instead of a draw, they made only 2:3.

• Marciniak also worked at Euro 2016 (3 matches, last in round of 16) and World Cup 2018 (2 group matches), but missed Euro 2020 due to the effects of the coronavirus. “I got tachycardia, which disrupts the rhythm of the heartbeat. At some point, the pulse quickened even in a sitting position, as if I were walking briskly, ”said the referee.