Italy’s referees are rebelling against what they see as “serious threats” caused by excessive media analysis of their mistakes.
After Calciopoli the pressure on the officials has grown even more and the situation is turning ugly with a bullet posted to refereeing designator Pierluigi Collina, while he was also insulted when in the stands to watch Sampdoria-Torino on Sunday.
“The referees now say enough is enough,” slammed President of the Referees’ Association (AIA) Cesare Gussoni.
“We are forced to call a stop to this, because the situation is very serious. We have received threats and so have our families. We have to explain what is happening before it is too late.”
As well as the Collina threats, an incident shook the refereeing fraternity to the core this season.
“A man was grabbed and threatened with a beating. They only released him when he managed to convince the thugs that he was a bank manager and not the famous referee they had mistaken him for.”
Gussoni put the blame squarely on the media who have whipped up a frenzy over refereeing errors, particularly when favouring Inter this season.
“Enough of these television programmes that feed off the officials. We want the right to make a mistake, just like players.
“After the over the top criticism of Stefano Farina in the Catania-Inter game, we saw an average of 9-12 incidents of violence around the country towards referees suddenly leap to 20 per week. In a month we normally note only 20-30 incidents, but in February alone there were 52.”
Meanwhile, the President of the Players’ Association has criticised the decision to defer Francesco Totti to the Disciplinary Commission for his criticism of the referee in Roma’s 1-1 draw with Inter.
“He clearly made a joke and certainly did not denounce the irregularity of this season or any proposed conspiracies,” said Sergio Campana.
“This decision leaves us perplexed, especially if we take into account that recently club directors have made far worse allegations towards the referees and have never been disciplined.”
