According to reports, the crucial Tuesday night match between Inter and Barcelona in Milan, which is a de facto final for Barça after the 3-3 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, has its referee: Simon Marciniak, the Polish referee who was named the best referee in the world and Europe in the 2022-23 season. He officiated the 2022 World Cup final (Argentina-France), the 2023 Champions League final (Manchester City-Inter), and the 2023 Club World Cup final.

Marciniak has recently been controversial

In the Atlético Madrid-Real Madrid match in the Champions League round of 16, he disallowed Julián Álvarez’s penalty goal on the advice of his compatriot Tomasz Kwiatkowski, the VAR official, for hitting the ball twice, without reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor. This decision helped Real advance to the quarterfinals.

Also, in the Real-Bayern (2-1) match in last season’s Champions League semifinals, his assistant mistakenly raised the offside flag before Matthijs de Ligt’s goal, which could have sent the game into extra time, and VAR could not intervene. The Bayern defender called the decision “shameful” and said, “We all know the rules; the game should have continued.”

Marciniak will referee a Barcelona match in Europe for the sixth time. The last time was in the 2022-23 group stage against Inter (3-3). He also officiated Barcelona-Inter in the 2018-19 season (1-1). Barcelona’s record with him is one win, two draws, and two losses. For Inter, this will be Marciniak’s tenth refereeing, with two wins, three draws, and four losses.

Van Boekel, the controversial VAR assistant

Adding to the refereeing controversies is Pol van Boekel, the Dutch referee, as the VAR assistant alongside Dennis Higler.

These two caused controversy in the Inter-Barcelona (1-0) match in the 2022-23 group stage when Higler was the VAR official. They did not report Denzel Dumfries’ clear handball in the 92nd minute after Ansu Fati’s shot to Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić. Also, Pedri’s goal, which came after the ball accidentally hit Ansu Fati’s hand (which was legal according to the rules), was disallowed. According to the rules, if the ball accidentally hits a player’s hand and their teammate scores, it is not a foul, but Van Boekel and Higler did not intervene.

Van Boekel has another controversial history. In the Bayern-Barcelona (2-0) match in 2022, he did not inform his compatriot referee Danny Makkelie about Alphonso Davies’ clear penalty on Ousmane Dembélé. Also, in the Real-PSG (3-1) match in 2021-22, he ignored Karim Benzema’s potential foul on Gianluigi Donnarumma.

In the Netherlands, his VAR error caused Feyenoord to win the league instead of PSV. In Euro 2021, Roberto Rosetti, head of UEFA’s refereeing committee, cited Van Boekel’s incorrect decision in the Turkey-Italy match as an example of refereeing error. He also confirmed a controversial penalty for Raheem Sterling in the England-Denmark semifinal.

This refereeing team, with its controversial history, has raised serious concerns for Barcelona in this crucial match.

Source: Mondodportivo