Although almost a week has passed since the World Cup final in Qatar was played, controversies continue to be the order of the day.
One of the most questioned characters following the game has been the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, whom the French media have insistently criticized due to various decisions he made during the match.
In fact, in recent days a petition made by French fans, who ask that the match be repeated, went viral. “The refereeing was totally sold, there was never a penalty + MBAPPE’s foul on the second goal!!! Sign and share en masse for a replay!”can be read in the request that they were making to Fifa itself.
The petition reached more than 205,000 digital signatures, but it has also caused all kinds of comments in other countries. In fact, Argentinian fans fought back and created another public petition on the change.org website. The objective? They literally request that “France stop crying”.
“Since we won the World Cup final, the French have not stopped crying, complaining and do not accept that Argentina He is the world champion”, reads the description of the petition.
But it has not only been the fans who have had strong disagreements over the result and the refereeing guidelines that were given during the World Cup final. The French press has also gotten into the fight.
France’s famous sports media The team He assured that “Argentina’s third goal should not have been awarded”, which was scored by Messi at minute 108 of overtime. “According to the regulations, Lionel Messi’s second goal, in extra time, should have been canceled by the match referee, Szymon Marciniak,” added the French media.
The argument of the French is that there was an invasion of the field of play by the substitutes of the Argentine bank.
“If, following scoring a goal, the referee realizes before play is restarted that another person was on the field of play at the time the goal was scored: the referee must disallow the goal.” It was one of the sections of the FIFA regulations that the French newspaper cited to support its argument.
But Marciniak has not remained silent and even dared to give a press conference to respond to criticism from the media and fans in France.
“The French did not mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the field when Mbappé scores a goal. Nothing to say, especially since in Kolo Muani’s missed opportunity at the end of the game, several substitutes are still in the playing area. First of all, to penalize that situation would have to affect the game. What was the impact of the boys who got up and jumped onto the field?” said the soccer judge.
The move that might change history
But there was an even more decisive episode that might have changed the course of the entire game, even more so because it occurred in the final minutes of the match, when Argentina and France were tied on two goals.
Around minute 86, the French team was attacking in the Argentine area and there was contact in the area. Marcus Thuram fell following his foot brushed Enzo Fernández’s.
According to Marciniak’s version at the press conference, the VAR initially said it was a penalty. He cautioned that the team that reviewed the play “intuitively leaned towards annulling the decision on the pitchbut following analyzing the replays he concluded that it was correct and agreed to continue the game.
