Szymon Marciniak explains the controversial penalty disallowed against Julian Alvarez: “To be honest...”

One of the most prominent names recently in the field of refereeing is that of Szymon Marciniak. And why not? The 44-year-old Polish referee had the great responsibility of deciding to annul the penalty of Julián Álvarez in the face-off against Real Madrid, applying rule 14 of the IFAB (International Football Association Board) which refers to maximum penalties that are executed and, in this case, due to a slip, the ball ended up hitting both feet of the kicker.

This decision has been subject to debate, questioning firstly the dubious nature of the play and secondly the fact that Marciniak fully trusted what his VAR assistant, Tomasz Kwiatkowski, communicated to him through the earpiece. He did not take the time to review the images and responded quite quickly to a play that, given the circumstances of the match, was extremely difficult to evaluate.

However, amidst the many statements and opinions about the play, it was Marciniak himself who decided to give an interview to explain his version of the events. The Polish referee participated in an interview with the 'Win Win' media to expose details about his controversial decision.

"I was the one who informed the VAR referees that there was a 99% chance of a double touch by Álvarez, and they reviewed it thoroughly," Marciniak pointed out in the interview.

"I was the one who informed the VAR referees that there was a 99% chance of a double touch by Álvarez"

Marciniak acknowledged the complexity of the play

Similarly, the Polish referee debunked the theory that suggested that a player from Real Madrid had notified him about the alleged double touch in Julián Álvarez's penalty. "Did Mbappé tell the referees that Álvarez touched it twice? That is not true at all," he emphasized.

Finally, Marciniak highlighted the complexity of evaluating such an atypical play, especially given the circumstances in which it occurred. "To be honest, I had never faced a situation like this in my refereeing career, but the players know the rules," he concluded.

"To be honest, I had never faced a situation like this in my refereeing career, but the players know the rules"

The play will surely continue to be discussed soon

It is undeniable that the play is extremely difficult to judge, so much so that the UEFA, in its statement in response to Atlético de Madrid's query about the play, admitted that it will "hold discussions with FIFA and IFAB to determine if the rule should be revised in cases where a double touch is clearly unintentional." Such was the case here, where, besides being minimal, there is no apparent intention on the part of Julián Álvarez, who clearly slipped.

This error has cost Atlético de Madrid the series, leading to their elimination from the UEFA Champions League, a competition that has eluded them in a quite controversial manner. Surely, this incident will continue to generate debate, regardless of the explanations from UEFA as to why the play was penalized. The variety of images presented from different angles does not seem to entirely clarify the situation.