Szymon Marciniak, his country Poland's first ever to officiate a World Cup final, came under scrutiny from the French media for allowing Messi's extra-time goal as a photo appeared on social media wherein it showed Argentina's subs to have entered the pitch when the ball went into the net.
A week after the much talked about FIFA World Cup final that saw high-octane drama, continued where it left off as the match referee of the game showed a photo on his mobile phone to the press in respond to the claims that Lionel Messi's extra-time goal should have been cancelled out. (More Football News)
Lionel Messi and Argentina went on to win the final 4-2 on penalties but the rumbling continued after the game as Messi's controversial goal was still talk of the town. Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick did not help for the Les Bleus as they lost out to the Argentines.
Szymon Marciniak, his country Poland's first ever to officiate a World Cup final, came under scrutiny from the French media for allowing Messi's extra-time goal as a photo appeared on social media wherein it showed Argentina's subs to have entered the pitch when the ball went into the net.
France's high-profile newspaper L'Equipe stated that the International Football Association Board's Law 3, paragraph 9, which includes that the referee must disallow the goal if a substituted player was on the field of play when the goal was scored.
However the referee gave a unique reply in his press-conference. By showing a screenshot of the goal on his phone he said, "The French didn't mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappe scores a goal."
Marciniak's comments came after fans started an online petition asking for the final to be replayed as it contained a lot of referee errors and mistakes. The petition has so far crossed 220,000 signatures.
(With inputs from Agencies)