Sporting-Arsenal referee investigated by UEFA | OneFootball

UEFA have appointed Szymon Marciniak to referee Arsenal’s clash with Sporting CP on Tuesday, after an investigation into the official last year.

Photo by Francesco Pecoraro – Paolo Bruno/Getty Images

UEFA have confirmed their match official appointments for Arsenal’s game against Sporting CP in midweek. Szymon Marciniak will referee, assisted by Adam Kupsik and Radoslaw Siejka.

Pawel Raczkowski will act as fourth official, completing the all-Polish team on the ground for the match.

Tomasz Kwiatkowski is on VAR, with French official Jerome Brisard assisting him.

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Marciniak is a very experienced referee, most notably taking on the 2022 World Cup final and the 2023 Champions League final to cap his 18 years in the professional game.

Yet he’s not without controversy, and that 2023 final came in the wake of a UEFA investigation into his association with the Polish far-right.

In the lead-up to the final, Marciniak spoke at a conference organised by right-wing libertarian politician Slawomir Mentzen, who has been accused of making anti-semitic and anti-LGBT comments in the past.

“We don’t want Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxes and the European Union,” Mentzen said in 2019.

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After UEFA investigated Marciniak, the referee released a statement to apologise, saying: “I want to express my deepest apologies for my involvement and any distress or harm it may have caused.

“Upon reflection and further investigation, it has become evident that I was gravely misled and completely unaware of the true nature and affiliations of the event in question.

“I had no knowledge that it was associated a Polish extreme-right movement. Had I been aware of this fact, I would have categorically declined the invitation.

“It is important to understand that the values promoted by this movement are entirely contrary to my personal beliefs and the principles I strive to uphold in my life.

“Moving forward, I pledge to be more vigilant in scrutinising the events and organisations with which I associate myself.”

Marciniak ultimately got to remain as referee for the Champions League final, and he’ll now prepare to officiate Sporting CP and Arsenal on Tuesday, his first match involving the Gunners.