Atletico president demands penalty after Marciniak’s decision. “The referee had to come up with it”

The referee who noticed [double touching, editor’s note] must have made it up, or VAR did it – thundered Enrique Cerezo. The president of Atletico Madrid cannot come to terms with the decision of Szymon Marciniak and other referees who canceled Julian Alvarez’s penalty, which contributed to the club’s elimination from the Champions League. He made strong accusations against the Pole and company, demanding that consequences be drawn.

Szymon Marciniak is one of the best referees in the world, as evidenced by his achievements. He has already refereed the final of the World Cup and the Champions League. And in the latter tournament he regularly appears on the pitch. Exactly a month ago, however, in one of the matches he made a decision that was widely echoed and on which experts, fans, activists and even UEFA are still speaking out. Now the president of the “wronged” club himself has spoken out.

Roman Kosecki on foreigners in Ekstraklasa: We need well-known footballers like in the Turkish league so that the young ones can learn.

Atletico Madrid president thunders on Marciniak’s decision. “It does not fulfill its destiny”

The situation in question was from the 1/8 finals of the Champions League between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. At that time, Julian Alvarez’s goal was disallowed in the penalty shootout. VAR found a foul in the form of a double touch of the ball by the Argentine. He slipped before taking the shot and touched the ball twice. Ultimately, Diego Simeone’s team said goodbye to the competition.

Many experts have already spoken out about the incident. Even UEFA spoke out, stating that Marciniak and the company made the right decision. A recording of the incident was also presented, which was supposed to prove the correctness of the referees’ actions. However, Enrique Cerezo, the president of Atletico, expressed a different opinion on the matter, criticizing VAR quite strongly.

– I love and admire referees, but I don’t like VAR. Why? It’s a tool that doesn’t fulfill its purpose – he began, quoted by “AS”. – VAR doesn’t work when it should, and it works when it shouldn’t – he added.

The president demands that consequences be brought to light

In his opinion, Alvarez did not touch the ball twice. – There were 50 thousand photos and recordings of the penalty kick, and you can’t even see that there was a double touch. The referee who noticed it must have made it up, or VAR did it. When the result is already known, the only thing that matters to us is whether they will be punished – emphasized the president of Atletico. In this way, he demands sanctions for the referees, and therefore for Szymon Marciniak, because in his opinion the club was wronged. 

In fact, the Atletico fans’ association thinks the same . In their opinion, the video published by UEFA was manipulated. They allegedly have reports that prove that the recordings were tampered with . The case is waiting for the finale. 

For Atletico, the adventure with the Champions League has come to an end. And Real continues to play, although they too are in a difficult situation. After the first quarter-final match, they are three goals behind Arsenal. The return match will take place on Wednesday, April 16 at the Santiago Bernabeu. The task seems almost impossible to accomplish, but who is to do it, if not Real, considered a specialist in renovation.