Football
Selene Scarsi 9y

No ban for Napoli-Juventus officials - Italian referees' president

The president of the Italian Referees' Association (AIA) Marcello Nicchi says referee Paolo Tagliavento and his assistants will not be suspended following Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis' accusations in the aftermath of Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Juventus that the officials were "disingenuous or incompetent."

De Laurentiis took to Twitter to criticise referee Paolo Tagliavento and his team over supposedly preferential treatment for Juve, and called for the officials to be suspended.

But AIA president Nicchi responded in an interview with RaiSport's football analysis programme "Il Processo del Lunedi," saying: "No, we will not suspend Tagliavento and his assistants. I don't want to censure anyone but in football, more often than not, one says what one thinks, without thinking about what one is saying.

"We need to be careful, because every single strong statement can cause violence. It is this type of statement that ultimately leads to the fact that in Italy, every year, 370 referees are hit or beaten up on the pitch."

He then addressed Martin Cacares' goal to put Juventus 2-1 up, for which De Laurentiis claimed both Giorgio Chiellini and Cacares were offside.

"It's absurd that, for an offside the size of a packet of cigarettes -- a matter of centimetres -- we create so much controversy, which will ultimately translate into violence on pitches lower down the leagues," Nicchi continued.

"How can we fault the linesman for that goal? It was an incredibly difficult decision, on which Tagliavento has no responsibility, and none of the Napoli players complained on the pitch."

Nicchi also expressed his opinion on Franceso Totti's selfie celebration after scoring in the derby against Lazio, adding: "With my AIA president hat on, I would say he probably should have been booked, but referee [Daniele] Orsato used his common sense in not booking. I think we should concentrate on how beautiful those two goals were."

De Laurentiis took to Twitter in the aftermath of Napoli's defeat to the Bianconeri, writing in a series of tweets: "We're tired of this! Juve are a great club, but if they get extra help from referees they will become unbeatable.

"It is unacceptable that six referees didn't see two players in offside. Either they're disingenuous or they are incompetent.

"These six referees need to be stopped for a long time."

^ Back to Top ^