FIFA Backs Referee's Decision Not to Send Off Messi

FIFA has backed referee Szymon Marciniak’s decision not to show Lionel Messi a red card in Argentina’s match against Algeria, despite the uproar over a hard tackle in the 31st minute. Former international referee Rafał Rostkowski said there was no officiating error and that the Polish referee acted correctly.

Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, with Messi scoring a hat trick, and the incident became a major talking point because Messi stepped on Algerian defender Issa Mandi’s shin. Marciniak whistled a foul but did not even book Messi, which many viewers and commentators felt should have led to a sending-off.

Rostkowski said the reaction was driven largely by how the scene looked in still images and replays, while FIFA considered the full movement of both players, not just the point of contact. He added that Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s head of refereeing, said Marciniak was right to award a free kick to Algeria and to avoid any card, because FIFA did not classify the incident as violent conduct or a particularly serious foul.

The former referee also wrote on sport.tvp.pl that some observers might justify a yellow card for carelessness, but that would not make VAR intervention necessary. According to him, VAR official Kwiatkowski had no grounds to send Marciniak to the monitor. He further said World Cup referees in North America were instructed to use red cards mainly for the most dangerous offenses, and that Messi’s foul would rate only 6 to 8 on FIFA’s scale, while a red card is expected only for incidents at 9 or 10.