UEFA said on Friday that Polish referee Szymon Marciniak will be allowed to officiate the men’s Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan despite attending a far-right conference.
Marciniak said in a statement that in accepting an invitation to the event in Katowice on Monday he had been “gravely misled and completely unaware of the true nature and affiliations of the event in question.”
“I had no knowledge that it was associated with a Polish extreme-right movement. Had I been aware of this fact, I would have categorically declined the invitation,” he added.
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UEFA said that in light of his explanation, “Mr Marciniak will fulfil his role as the referee for the 2023 UEFA Champions League final.”
A Polish group that fights racism and anti-Semitism, Nigdy Wiecej, which means Never Again, wrote to UEFA on Thursday calling for Marciniak to explain himself.
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Marciniak also took charge of the World Cup final between Argentina and France in Doha last year.
The men’s Champions League final takes place in Istanbul on June 10.
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