By Habeeb Kuranga
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has appointed Szymon Marciniak as the official referee for the world cup final between Argentina and France.
The polish will be the man in the middle on Sunday at the Lusail Stadium.
FIFA’s chairman of referees, Pieluigi Collina, was tasked with the duty of evaluating the performances of the officials throughout the tourney in Qatar and he came up with the name of the 41-year-old to be the main man to officiate the showpiece event come Sunday.
This would be the first major international tournament for Marciniak. And the first Pole to officiate a FIFA world cup final – he will be joined by assistants Paweł Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz.
The Polish referee has already officiated both of these teams en route to the final. He oversaw France’s win against Denmark in the group stages and Argentina’s Round 16 tie against Australia.
He has been given the nod ahead of Wilton Sampaio (who officiated the England vs France Quarter Final game), Anthony Taylor and fellow Englishman, Michael Oliver.
Given the last match of the world cup, which will ultimately determine the champions of the world, people around the globe will most likely question the decision of the FIFA’s head of referees to make Marciniak the centre man considering the fact that this is going to be his first final in a major International competition.
