UEFA has diligently investigated the allegations surrounding Szymon Marciniak's participation in an event organised in Katowice on 29 May 2023. These allegations are taken with utmost seriousness by UEFA and the entire football community as we unequivocally reject the values promoted by a group linked to this conference. Yesterday, we committed to gathering all relevant information and sought urgent clarification on this matter.
After conducting a thorough review, we have received a statement from Mr. Marciniak expressing his deepest apologies and providing a clarification regarding his involvement in the event. We believe it is crucial to share his statement to address the concerns and ensure transparency.
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I hope this statement will find its way to all those concerned, particularly the individuals who were rightfully alarmed and disappointed by my participation in the "Everest" event organised in Katowice on 29 May 2023. 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. I am deeply remorseful for any perception that my participation may have contradicted them.
As a professional deeply committed to the game of football, I want to emphasise my unwavering support for the values championed by UEFA, particularly inclusivity and respect for all individuals regardless of their background. These principles lie at the very core of the spirit of football and align seamlessly with my personal beliefs. Moreover, I wholeheartedly condemn any form of hate, discrimination, or intolerance, as they have no place within the sport or society as a whole.
I also want to highlight my commitment to combating discrimination in football. I was among the first referees in the world, and certainly the first in my country, to apply the "three-step procedure" in response to a serious discriminatory incident during a match in Poland.
Moving forward, I pledge to be more vigilant in scrutinising the events and organisations with which I associate myself. I am committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that such lapses in judgment do not occur in the future.
Lastly, I extend my sincere apologies to the clubs, players, fans, colleagues, officials and organisations who place their trust in me. I fully comprehend that my actions have had repercussions beyond personal disappointment, and I am fully prepared to accept any consequences resulting from my ill-advised participation.
Thank you for your understanding, and I humbly request an opportunity to make amends and regain your trust through my future actions.
Sincerely,
Szymon Marciniak
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Following Mr. Marciniak's statement, UEFA acknowledges his profound apologies and clarification. UEFA also reached out to "NEVERAGAIN," an NGO affiliated with the FARE network, which raised the initial concerns about Mr. Marciniak's involvement in the event. They requested that Mr. Marciniak remain in his role as the referee for the upcoming UEFA Champions League final, firmly asserting that removing him would undermine the promotion of anti-discrimination.
Based on the information provided, UEFA confirms that Mr. Marciniak will fulfil his role as the referee for the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.
UEFA is dedicated to fostering an inclusive, respectful and fair-play football environment, and stands firmly against hate, discrimination, and intolerance. We reiterate our commitment to promoting unity, respect, and fair play within the beautiful game.
We look forward to a thrilling UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City FC and FC Internazionale Milano next week at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
UEFA.com
Great news. That's a relieve.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that Marciniak personally wrote this letter tbh, all these apologies look like these Maoist cultural revolution false confessions (he did nothing wrong in my book)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, glad that he stays as the final referee. It would have been outrageous to remove him.
It's a crazy world in which such huge storm appears only because a person participated as a lecturer in a BUSINESS conference (not a political rally), no matter what are the organizer's personal views.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't like Konfederacja's quite sick nationalism (one can say it's fascism, indeed) or extreme economic liberalism but it's not the reason to wildly attack a person for attending a business conference organized by the leader of this party (who is also a valued doctor of economics, tax advisor and entrepreneur).
Crazy (leftist) times...
Good luck, Szymon!
+1. And even if it was a political rally (unless it's ofc from a terrorist organization or an illegal party that sponsored political violence like Golden Dawn in Greece) I would criticize it, not from a legal party with 10% of support (whose policies people are free to disagree or criticize), ofc it would be problematic if a self-recognized right-wing or left-wing referee was appointed to a game of e.g. Lazio or St. Pauli because people could have legitimate concers about their bias for personal reasons, but other than that... (that's why most referees in ESP wait to retire or almost retire to join or express support to political parties, like Estrada Fernández who last week was elected as a city councillor in his hometown in the ranks of a Catalan independentist party)
DeleteAs I said, it looks like a modern version of certain practices made in name of ideological orthodoxy.
It's business conference, where people said about this success.
ReplyDeleteWhat a circus
That's it! I can't call it different than leftist terrorism...
DeleteIf you call that "leftist terrorism", I sincerely hope you will never be personally confronted with true leftist terrorism à la Baader-Meinhof group in Germany or brigate rosse in Italy.
DeleteSzimon Marciniak was invited to take part in this event to give the racist and antisemitic pressure group having organised the meeting an image of rightousness and international reputation.
Maybe it is true, as Marciniak states, that he knew nothing about the background of the event, maybe it is ist not.
But if you run with these people and get caught with them, you will be hung with them as well.
And as already written by others here: I don't believe one second, that Marciniak's statement was written by himself.
+1 Exactly. What a mess, because a "man of success" went to a conference organized by a local business leader to instruct participants how to strive to become successful! A stupid leftish man made a mess, as always.
DeleteUEFA fails to support it's officials when they really have to.
ReplyDeleteMarciniaks presence at an event like that without having a closer look at the folks who invite him shows an amazing amount of naivety.
ReplyDeleteMarciniak close to antisemitic and right wing movements, Zwayer with a history close to bribery - I think there is some work to do in international refereeing.
Yes, thank you! Even if Marciniak has no sympathy at all with racist and antisemitic movement, which I am happy to believe, he should have known better. These are the kind of things you don't want to be affiliated with. Not making sure you know in which setting you are publicly speaking is incredibly naive to say the least.
DeleteThe case of Felix is already closed since years. Just stop talking about this, there is nothing to discover.
Delete@Zwayerbrazil: Correct, there is nothing to discover but everything to remeber.
DeleteIndeed, this statement has most probably (if not for sure) not been written by Marciniak himself. As a lawyer myself, I truly believe that this kind of statement has been worked out by a bunch of lawyers in very close communication and collaboration of course with UEFA. The latter adopted without many doubt the content of the statement written down by Marciniak's advisors/lawyers and most probably approved it formally upfront. Nothing wrong with that, in the end : UEFA did what it had to do. This being said, we were in my humble opinion close to the appointment of Makkelie for the UCL final this year...
ReplyDeleteWe cannot argue with speculation and maybe-facts! EVEN IF Marciniak did not write that statement himself - what we dont know - why shouldn't he stand against fascism and intolerance, what he made clear by his actions even before, as mentioned in the text!??
DeleteIt is anything but tolerance, when we condemn somebody just in doubt and leave it to him to prove that he is NOT guilty. It is simply unfair.
May I point out that if it had been a referee from WESTERN Europe or Scandinavia, this "issue" wouldn't be solved within 24h. In fact, I think the referee would be pulled off the final. Visualise Taylor, Makkelie, a German or Scandinavian referee being invited by the most far-right politician in their country: LOCAL politics in those countries would not accept it.
ReplyDeleteI still think it's 'shady'. Marciniak accepts the invitation, with a right mind, fully aware of the politician's idealism. In my opinion, we can assume he does support (some of) the ideas, otherwise you would decline such an invitation immediately.
It is strange how UEFA handles certain matters. Politics stinks. Massa immediately gets the support after the incident in Greece. Vincic has a shady past, but it never damaged his career, because he is Slovenian. You can't say that about e.g. Zwayer. And where was the support for Anthony Taylor and Danny Makkelie, after a GOOD game without crucial mistakes?
UEFA doesn't want to mix politics and sports. Marciniak is simply the best referee at the moment, so it is enough to be in the Final. Why should he be out just because of having attended a business conference? Slawomir Mentzer has never been convicted (or even accused) of anything, he is an entrepreneur; it is only a stupid far-leftish group's opinion that he did anything wrong. All Polish important politicians, including all parties from left to right (apart from this small, stupid far-right group) have made a mess as always for any reason.
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Delete@Autor:
DeleteEver heard or read the slogan "Say no to racism!"?
Guess who promoted it?
Yes, that is UEFA.
So don't try to tell us that UEFA doesn't want to mix sports and politcs.
Szimon Marciniak - willingly or not - just said "yes!" to racism.
Marciniak is not dumb person. To say that he had no idea what this group promotes and/or is linked to is him trying to save face. A person with his profile and standing in World Football must do his due diligence before lending his voice and or image to any group. If he does this and still chooses to attend, then it shows his true colors. Based on that pre-prepared "cookie cutter" apology letter. It's glaringly obvious that he's not sorry about having done what he did. He's simply sorry that he got caught and he is now desperately trying to cover his @$$. Me personally, I've lost all respect for him as person and he will become just an afterthought like all those other far-right "fake-triots" that have come and gone.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that UEFA doesnt care does show their True colors as well. Stupidest thing they could do is still having Marciniak for this final. He cant "win" anymore since the media knows about his far right sympathies. At best they only shortly will mention it. Imo its not the image one would like to have.... I cant wait to see what sh*tshow is gonna hit UEFA if Marciniak makes a big mistake. We will see next week i guess, but IMO marciniak and uefa can only lose right now
DeleteUEFA has no alternative for Marciniak, who obviously knew that very well… Marciniak can more or less do whatever he wants without any consequences, which is dangerous.
DeleteIn the absence of alternatives, excuses to “Never again” had to be made. That letter is a 'save his ass' action by mr. Boniek and associates.
Indeed, UEFA did not think carefully about what could happen in case of a sh*tshow by the Polish team. Examples
1) Marciniak does not issue a yellow card to a white, but does issue a YC to a black player for a similar offence. Can you guess the headlines?
2) Losing side (players & coaches) are not happy with the referee team after the game, call him a fascist, or whatsoever, leading to more reputational damage for UEFA after they already failed multiple times to protect the rights of minority groups.
As noted above, this issue would be solved very differently if it was a North-West European referee. This person was hung on the highest gallows locally, you can count on that.
Fact is, Marciniak is indeed not stupid and knew very well what invitation he accepted.
Any ’normal’ person that does NOT agree with the far-right ideology would not accept the invitation >> it’s that simple. Cause you don't want to be associated with the ideology. To me, that says enough about the Pole. I lost my respect for UEFA a long time ago, but now I also lost my respect for Szymon Marciniak.
Damage control prediction: Marciniak will wear a special t-shirt when entering the pitch stating "Say no to racism."
ReplyDeleteUEFA and its member associations are nothing but "lip service" in regards to combating racism and ensuring equality. Sure they'll wear patches on jerseys, wear t-shirts, and put up billboards around the pitches. But it ends there. Because taking actual meaningful steps and doling out punishments, fines, bans is too hard. Or could it possibly be that they are delusional and actually think that racism isn't that big of a problem. But I'm not surprised in a organization led by Ceferin.
ReplyDeleteAfter this very controversial discussion here let me draw your attention to the political agenda of Slawomir Mentzen, and his political movement. Mentzen himself summed up his political goals in 2019 as follows: "We want no Jews, no homosexuals, no abortion, no taxes and no European Union".
ReplyDeleteAny more questions about the background of the event?
Careful, you're stating facts. The kryptonite of the far-right ;)
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