Referee Szymon Marciniak denies comments aimed at Barcelona pair Pedri & Hansi Flick | OneFootball

Referee Szymon Marciniak has provided his response to the quotes attributed to him, in the aftermath of this week’s Champions League semi-final 2nd-leg between Inter Milan and Barcelona.

The name of official Marciniak has of course taken its place front and centre in the headlines in Catalunya’s capital over recent days.

Unfortunately for the Pole, however, as much comes for altogether less than positive reasons.

After Barcelona were sent packing from the Champions League at the hands of Inter Milan, the finger of blame was immediately pointed in the direction of Marciniak.

Hansi Flick, for one, stated:

“Every 50/50 decision that the ref had, he called it in Inter’s favour. This makes me sad.”

Blaugrana midfielder Pedri then added:

“It’s not the first time this has happened to us with this referee. UEFA should look into it. Every 50/50 for them. There are things that I don’t understand and which are hard to explain.”

A further round of comments were then posted online, attributed to Marciniak himself.

As much saw the Pole, allegedly, label the criticism which he came in for as both ‘ridiculous’ and flat out ‘stupid’.

On Thursday, however, Marciniak has moved to firmly deny having ever made such comments.

During an interview with Polish outlet Przegląd Sportowy Onet, as cited by Mundo Deportivo, the referee went as far as to label the quotes attached to his name as ‘a big lie’:

“The statements published by the Egyptian and Spanish media, which resonated strongly on social media, turned out to be a big lie. A referee is not allowed to make post-match comments about decisions he has made. As Szymon Marciniak himself informed us , no such statement took place.”

Conor Laird – GSFN