Marciniak: I am calm and relaxed before the upcoming World Cup

Listen to the whole conversation between Piotr Salak and Szymon Marciniak.

“We are in one hotel, all judges, this is a very large group of people, i.e. 30 judging teams plus VAR judges, plus two operators, an amazing number of people” – this is how Szymon Marciniak said about the realities of the judge’s work during the world championship, said Szymon Marciniak in the Afternoon conversation at RMF FM.

Marciniak will be the only Pole among the main referees at the World Cup in Qatar.

The guest of Piotr Salak also referred to the situation that for the first time in history, at this World Cup, also ladies will lead matches as a referee.

“We don’t know if the girls will be the referees or maybe they will be in the middle. This is a huge step forward, a few years ago no one would have believed it, I’m sure about it, I’m sure of it”, he replied.

Piotr Salak also asked his guest if he agreed with the thesis that judges from Europe are the best.

“Of course everyone wants to have the highest standard, I will not hide that judges from Europe this really is an absolute top and I believe it and I know that all confederations would like Europeans to judge it. These opinions are a bit unfair, there are some good judges from South America or Africa – Marciniak replied.

Szymon Marciniak was there too we are asking about yesterday’s penalty, which was supposed to be scored by Lewandowski during the Barcelona vs. Bayern match.

“As a rule, the penalty is punished when the judge whistles it, the situation was controversial, from the pitch it could have looked like a penalty kick, but in the cameras it is different, they show a different light. It was all on the border – in my opinion it was not a penalty, than criminal “- replied judge Marciniak.

Recall, yesterday during the Barcelona vs Bayern match, English referee Anthony Taylor first called a penalty kick after a foul on Robert Lewandowski, but then after a VAR analysis, he changed his mind.

“FIFA will send members, FIFA instructors, who will go to the hotel after the Polish national team and everyone else arrive and show them exactly the same clips that we will train on so that they can see how the judges will act in given situations. There will be a lot of this information, and the players will be able to ask about everything there, ”said the football referee Szymon Marciniak about the preparations for the World Cup in Qatar.

The judge is best liked, respected and a little afraid of him.

The referee was also asked what the referee should be on the pitch: should he be a brother or a more strict father? According to Marciniak, “there are different approaches”.

“There are judges who are really good colleagues, and there are also policemen. I am very happy in the skin I am in. I try to be more of such a friend, but I still remain a policeman, ”he said. And he added that he also tries to talk on the pitch.

“It is also time to joke when someone plays something funny or if he fails to do something, sometimes I scoff. But so positive. I know the language of the locker room, I know the language of the pitch, so I can laugh gently at someone somewhere, ”he said.

And does he like to be laughed at by himself?

“Nobody likes to laugh at him. But I can laugh at myself and I think I have a sense of humor, ”said Marciniak. And he quoted an anecdote: “Many times I have had a situation where I slipped on the field, someone threw me something or did something stupid. I remember once someone nudged me and a whistle flew out. I couldn’t find him on the pitch and then one of the players told me to whistle on my toes. He stated that I am whistling weakly anyway, so why do I need a whistle, “he said. “The judge is best liked, respected and a little afraid of him,” he added.

The interviewer, Piotr Salak, also asked about media reports on the preparations for the World Cup in Qatar. The media reported on the victims of the World Cup. Does such information reach the participants?

“It is like sometimes with us, someone writes something about us without knowing us, not knowing what the situation was, but it is easy to make judgments. And I was also curious, I must admit honestly, because I have never encountered any injustice or bad treatment of people many times. But I read many articles that showed some kind of ambiguity or human harm. And now be smart and write poems. Probably something was wrong, but to be honest, nothing was reaching us at all, ”explained Marciniak.

Does this mean that the judges are in a kind of glass bubble, separated from all information? “Generally, we are very protected from the media, from cameras, and from journalists. FIFA believes that this campaign against us or looking at our hands forever, looking for mistakes, controversies is so great that it should not reach us ”- said Marciniak.

“The most important thing for a judge is calm, self-control and a cold head – and this information from the outside sometimes does not help. That is why, for example, during the World Cup in Russia, we had an Internet blockade in our hotel, a blockade of some judges ‘websites, judges’ blogs that acted on criticizing judges. I think it will be similar in Qatar, ”added the arbitrator.