UCL final ref scrutinized for alleged links to far-right leader

An anti-racism group on Thursday known as on the pinnacle referee of the Champions League final to distance himself from a far-right politician in Poland, and UEFA mentioned it needed “urgent clarification” forward of the Champions League final.

“A further announcement will be made [Friday], after reviewing all the evidence,” UEFA mentioned.

Szymon Marciniak has been picked by UEFA to referee the most important sport in membership soccer between Manchester City and Internazionale on June 10. He additionally dealt with the Argentina-France World Cup final for FIFA this season.

The Never Again group in Warsaw said Marciniak “reportedly promoted and participated in a recent event organized by a Polish far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen.”

‘We are shocked and appalled by Marciniak’s public affiliation with Mentzen and his model of poisonous far-right politics,” Never Again co-founder Rafal Pankowski said in a statement. “It is incompatible with the fundamental values of honest play akin to equality and respect.”

Mentzen is a leader of the populist Konfederacja (Confederation) party which has been accused of promoting anti-semitic, sexist and anti-gay views.

Marciniak was billed as a key speaker at an event publicized as a business conference for entrepreneurs on Monday in Katowice, Poland. Mentzen promoted the referee’s involvement on his social media channels.

UEFA said in a statement “the entire soccer neighborhood abhor the ‘values’ which are promoted by the group in query and takes these allegations very significantly.”

Pankowski said Never Again called upon Marciniak “to acknowledge his mistake. If he doesn’t do it, we imagine UEFA and FIFA ought to draw penalties.”

The 42-year-old Marciniak refereed on the 2022 and 2018 World Cups and the 2016 European Championship. He missed Euro 2020 whereas recovering from a coronary heart criticism after a COVID-19 an infection.