Former referee and current President of the Italian referee association Marcello Nicchi spoke to Rome based newspaper the Corriere dello Sport about the recent case of racism against Inter striker Romelu Lukaku during the Nerazzurri’s win in Cagliari, and about if the problem is exacerbated by referees not changing their attitude.
The former referee did not hesitate when asked if the referees must change their attitude.
“There are procedures that must be applied, very clear procedures established by the FIGC, such as the closure of certain sectors and entire sections of the stadium.”
“Referees have a clear responsibility in the management of the game, but it is useful to remove any misunderstandings and I want to say it clearly: you cannot think of offloading this problem onto the referees. That’s why the referees won’t change their attitude.”
When asked if Nicchi thought suspending the game was the correct answer, he was dismissive.
“The referee cannot take responsibility for suspending a game and turning it into a public order matter. There would be the fans to evacuate, order to maintain. We cannot take on this task. The rules are there, let’s apply them.”
