Argentine subs seen invading pitch before goal scored the line
* Messi scored twice in the final but his second goal proved controversial
* Two Argentina substitutes appeared to be on the pitch before the ball went in
* The French have argued that the goal should have been disallowed
By Kieran Lynch & Michael Rudling, MailOnline
World Cup final referee Szymon Marciniak has broken his silence on claims that Argentina’s third goal against France should have been disallowed.
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The Polish official, 41, has faced claims from French media that he should have chalked off the goal because “two emotional substitutes” ran onto the pitch before Lionel Messi’s strike crossed the line.
Over 200,000 French fans have signed a petition for the final to be replayed due to his perceived “mistakes”, but Marciniak has defiantly hit back at the criticism thrown in his direction.
But Szymon Marciniak claims there were seven French substitutes on the pitch for one of Kylian Mbappe’s goals and showed a picture of it during a press conference where he pulled out his phone with a picture which he says was at the time that Kylian Mbappe scored one of his three goals against Argentina.
Having raced into a two-goal lead before half time with goals from Messi and Angel Di Maria, Argentina were pegged back when Mbappe scored twice in two minutes to take the game to extra time.
The controversial moment then arrived in the 108th minute as Lautaro Martinez was played through on goal. His effort was well saved by Hugo Lloris but Messi was on hand to tap home the rebound from close range.
French outlet L’Equipe believed the goal should have been chalked off by Marciniak and his team of officials. Underneath the headline, ‘Why Argentina’s third goal shouldn’t have been awarded’.
The goal was checked by VAR for offside, but replays showed that Martinez had just managed to stay onside, leading to wild celebrations amongst the Argentina players and fans.
Whether VAR also looked at the substitutes going onto the pitch is unknown, but L’Equipe feels a free-kick should have been awarded to France by the letter of the law.
They point out that Law 3, Paragraph 9 of the Laws of Football reads: ‘If, after a goal is scored, the referee becomes aware before play resumes that an additional person was on the pitch at the time the goal was scored: the referee must disallow the goal if the extra person was: a player, substitute, substituted player, sent off player or official of the team who scored the goal; play must be restarted with a direct free kick from the place where the extra person was.’
The referee’s claims that French substitutes were on the pitch when Mbappe, suggest that one of his goals should have also been disallowed.
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Mbappe scored a third goal deep into extra-time before Argentina went on to win their third World Cup via a penalty shoot-out.
Meanwhile, a member of Oman’s parliament has offered $1 million to return the bisht robe before lifting World Cup trophy.
The bisht, an Arabic robe traditionally worn for special or ceremonial occasions such as weddings or religious festivals, was placed on Messi by the Emir of Qatar following their victory over France in the final.
He then proceeded to lift the trophy while wearing the bisht, leading some fans to criticize the organisers for a perceived attempt to hijack Argentina’s moment — but is a robe generally worn at special occasions and also denote power and are often worn by officals or clergy.
Bishts are also worn for ceremonial occasions such as the Muslim festival of Eid and its role in formal occasions has been compared that of a tuxedo in western culture.
One observer who did approve of the gesture was Ahmed Al Barwani of the Oman parliament, who tweeted: “From the Sultanate of Oman, I congratulate you for winning the World Cup Qatar 2022. The Arabic bisht, a symbol of chivalry and wisdom. I’m offering you $1 million in return for that bisht.”
He later told the National that the US$1 million, which currently equates to just under a week’s salary for Messi, was open to negotiation and added that if he did acquire the bisht, it would be “displayed to commemorate that moment of pride, and to help us relive it”.
“I was at the stadium watching that moment live when the Emir of Qatar gave Messi the bisht. This moment told the world that we are here, and this is our culture.”
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The trophy lift featuring Messi’s bisht followed a thrilling final that saw Argentina edge past France on penalties after an end-to-end 120 minutes.
Didier Deschamps’ side appeared to be out of contention at half time as they trailed 2-0 thanks to goals from Messi and Angel Di Maria, but fought back late on thanks to two goals in as any minutes from Kylian Mbappe.
