Experienced Poland Szymon Marciniak has been appointed by UEFA as referee for Tuesday's UCL meeting in Bergamo.
UEFA have confirmed that one of their most experienced officials, Pole Szymon Marciniak, will referee the sixth Champions League match between Atalanta and Real Madrid in Bergamo on Tuesday.
Highest rated UEFA official
The Pole is currently one of the highest-rated referees and oversaw Argentina's victory over France in the 2022 World Cup final, becoming the first Polish referee to be entrusted with the tournament's trophy decider.
In June 2023, Marciniak was also the first Pole to referee the men's Champions League final. He took charge of the game in Istanbul, where Man City defeated Inter Milan 1-0, despite UEFA conducting a pre-match investigation into his participation in an event with links to a far-right movement.
Marciniak apologized for his attendance at the Katowice event, saying in a statement: “Upon reflection and further investigation, it has become clear that I was seriously misled and completely unaware of the true nature and connections of the event in question .
“I didn't know it was related [with] a Polish far-right movement. Had I been aware of this, I would have categorically declined the invitation.”
Marciniak has been an international FIFA referee since 2011 and first competed in the Ekstraklasa, the top division of the men's competition in Poland, in April 2009. He made his Champions League debut in September 2014 and has also refereed at two World Cups: 2018 and 2022, overseeing two matches at Euro 2024.
In both 2023 and 2024, the Polish official was named “The Best Referee in the World” by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).
Tuesday will be his third UCL match this season, after refereeing PSG-Arsenal and Sporting CP-Arsenal on matchdays 4 and 5 respectively.
Marciniak will be supported on every line by compatriots Tomasz Listkiewicz and Adam Kupsik, while Tomasz Kwiatkowski will keep an eye on things in the VAR booth.
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