Former Serie A referee Gianpaolo Calvarese has branded the sending-off of Inter striker Romelu Lukaku against Juventus in yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal first leg clash as “incomprehensible.”
Speaking to Italian news outlet Calcio e Finanza, the former official suggested that it is not even clear what referee Davide Massa even sent the Belgian off for in yesterday evening’s match.
What is clear is that Lukaku was sent off by Massa in the dying seconds of yesterday evening’s match after receiving a second yellow card shortly after he had equalized for the Nerazzurri from the penalty spot.
What is less clear is exactly why the 29-year-old was handed the second booking by referee Massa.
It appeared to be the case that the Inter striker was either booked for a celebration that was deemed to be inciting the crowd, or that he was booked for a shoving match with Bianconeri wingback Juan Cuadrado shortly after.
“It’s been commented on by pundits and on social media, but we still don’t know why exactly Lukaku was sent off,” Calvarese said.
“We don’t know if Massa booked him for putting his finger to his mouth to silence the crowd, and in fact he’d already done the same celebration with his national team too.”
“Adding to the confusion is the fact that the booking actually came several seconds after his celebrations, and it was when he was closer to midfield rather than near the penalty area where the celebration actually happened,” Calvarese noted.
As for why Lukaku was actually given the second yellow card, Calvarese speculates that “There are two possibility, one would be that he was booked as part of the mass brawl.”
“It hardly seemed as though he had done enough to warrant a booking then, however, as he only actually started remonstrating with the referee after he had already been given the second booking,” he added.
“More likely is that he was booked for telling the crowd verbally to “silence” themselves, but then how would Massa have heard him?”
Calvarese suggests that “There’s no way he could have heard [Lukaku’s words] if he hadn’t heard the racist chants, which he would’ve been obligated to stop the match if he had been aware of.”
“As such it’s likely that it was actually do to what happened with Cuadrado, who Lukaku appeared to lash out at.”