Italy

Italian Referees' Chief: Officials Will Talk To The Press

The newly-appointed AIA President has revealed his plans to let referees explain their decisions to the media.

Mar 9, 2009 9:55:24 AM

Mario Balotelli - Inter-Roma - Serie A (Grazia Neri)

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Mario Balotelli - Inter-Roma - Serie A (Grazia Neri)

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Marcello Nicchi was elected as the new president of the AIA (Italian Referees’ Association) last week, succeeding Cesare Gussoni, and he could soon open the door to a major revolution in Italian football.

Officials are not allowed to give interviews after games in Italy, but Nicchi thinks this rule should soon be scrapped in order to help create a better atmosphere around the Calcio world.

“We should do things gradually, though,” he explained this morning on Radio Anch’Io Sport.

“I will talk about it with football representatives, but we will take it one step at a time.

“We will not throw anyone in at the deep end and I think that speaking soon after the games would not be the best solution. But, if we were asked for an opinion later on, we would be up for it.”

This new guidelines could have come in handy over the past week because there have been several controversial decisions in Serie A. Inter earned a dubious penalty against Roma and Mario Balotelli’s strike against Genoa was allowed to stand, even though the ball did not appear to have entirely crossed the line. Meanwhile, Reggina’s Bernardo Corradi saw a similar decision go against him in Lecce yesterday.

Vince Masiello, Goal.com