Italian journalist Matteo Marani believes that the extent of the controversy around referee Simone Sozza’s appointment for Inter’s Serie A clash with Roma shows how excessive the fixation on referees is in Italian football.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster RAI Radio, Marani gave the view that the way that Sozza’s designation for the match was made a talking point in the buildup was totally disproportionate to its actual importance.
Sozza was widely praised in Italian media for a composed and error-free display in the match between the Nerazzurri and the Giallorossi, but the pre-match buildup had a very different tone.
Some Roma fans felt that because Sozza had been born in Milan, he would not be able to be impartial for the match, and protested his appointment.
However, in the end the pre-match controversy came to nothing as Sozza managed the game well, and for Marani this is just further evidence that the obsession with referees has gone too far in Serie A.
“It shouldn’t be possible to have talked about the appointment of Sozza for Inter’s clash with Roma all week,” he said. “In Italy we are pathological, all we talk about is referees.”