Marcello Nicchi, the president of the Italian refereeing association, the AIA has commented on the current performance of the referees.
“The referees are doing well, and I think yesterday we restarted with a positive day. There are 3 things that need to stop being talked about. One is VAR, because we now know how it works. The second is racism, it needs to be eradicated. The third is violence, which we want to eliminate,” he told Radio Rai.
“We need to make a cultural leap, with some immediate actions, and with others for which it will take more time. There are some things that do not work. An example: the meeting with coaches and captains what is it for? We have said that the captain must be the only one who talks with the referee to ask for explanations. Why do we see referees surrounded after they’ve whistled? Then it will be appropriate to warn the captain, because he does not control his team. At the final whistle we see players and coaches who surround the referee.
Nicchi then went on to speak about the protocol concerning the suspension of games particularly in the event of racism.
“There are rules and regulations. If those do not go well, they change and then the new ones are implemented. The only one who can interrupt a match is a public security officer, who is on the sidelines. The referee has the task of defending the players and can take them to the locker rooms. If a coach takes the decision to withdraw their team from the field, they will forfeit the game. This is a decision that can not be taken by the referee. Racism is not a refereeing problem, but a problem of others.”
Next he spoke on VAR.
“VAR can be improved but we must be careful, however, that it does not become an alibi. VAR has to be used but it does not have to become something that is used for every foul. The protests of players are useless. We have said that we use the technology as much as possible. The use is decided by the referee or the VAR staff. When there is a goal, it is useless to raise your hands and protest. Players should not worry. If it is offside, they see it. If it’s a goal needing cancelled out, they see it. As a player and manager today I would feel very protected by this technology.”
