Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta has offered his verdict on Saturday’s Derby d’Italia incident involving Alessandro Bastoni.
Speaking ahead of today’s Lega Serie A meeting via FCInterNews, the Nerazzurri chief urged the media to ease the pressure on the 26-year-old.
Alessandro Bastoni has become one of the most unpopular figures in the country following this weekend’s clash at San Siro.
Indeed, he dived causing referee Federico La Penna to show Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu a second yellow card in the first half.
Despite being on a yellow card himself, Bastoni took the risk, and it paid off, as his simulation led to the Frenchman’s expulsion.
Meanwhile, Inter took three points, courtesy of Piotr Zielinski’s late heroics, as Cristian Chivu finally broke his ‘big game’ curse in Serie A.
However, Bastoni had to pay a hefty price for his actions, facing widespread criticism and even receiving death threats on social media,
Now, Beppe Marotta stepped into the Italian center-back’s defense.
Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta Defends Alessandro Bastoni Amid Widespread Criticism
“Our position is very simple,” Marotta stated. “I am here because we noticed an excessive media reaction compared to what actually happened.
“Alessandro Bastoni has been subjected to a media witch-hunt that goes far beyond the incident itself.
“We are talking about a 26-year-old player who has played over 300 Serie A matches and has never been involved in any controversial incidents.
“He is an asset for our national team. Some even question his presence in future call-ups, but that is not fair; it is absolutely unjust.
“We are facing a mistake by a young player, but who hasn’t made mistakes?
“When we talk about simulation, we are referring to an act that has existed since the 1950s, when there were already famous players known for this gesture.
“This is, I would say, an ordinary occurrence, not extraordinary; certainly deplorable because the reaction was exaggerated.
“However, it is due to contributing factors, given Kalulu’s arm and the referee blowing his whistle immediately.
“All of this led to a wrong decision, which I acknowledge.
“But these are the referee’s we had last year; the same designator ran it.
“Last year, we lost the Scudetto by one point. In hindsight, in Inter-Roma, they recognized a clear penalty in our favor that determined the outcome of the championship.
“We adhered to the decisions.
“This year, as a club, we spoke only in the case of Napoli-Inter over a penalty that changed the course of the match.
“The competent authorities later reviewed that penalty and declared it incorrect.”
Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta Urges Everyone to Take Responsibility
“We are facing a general malaise, and that’s fine,” he added.
“But everyone must take responsibility – the CAN and AIA, the clubs through their executives, players and coaches, the institutional bodies, and the FIGC.
“I am not referring to you journalists, because you draw conclusions from what you see and from the statements of those involved.
“You are doing your job correctly, and I am not here to teach you what to do.
“But what happens in Italy also happens abroad.
“It is time to have a broad discussion without creating controversy.
“Perhaps this is the moment to toughen disciplinary and financial penalties for executives, players, and coaches.
“Often, misconduct goes beyond acceptable limits, even at the refereeing level, as has happened in recent months.
“Bastoni did not behave in line with the principles of fair play, fine. But everyone must understand this.
“Repression is not part of my approach; certainly, prevention is possible, but prevention comes through dialogue, which is currently missing.
“The AIC [players’ association] must also get involved.
“Sometimes I notice a certain ignorance regarding regulatory aspects that all players should know.”
Inter Milan President Marotta Slams Italian Journalist Roberto Saviano
“There is disappointment,” Marotta said. “I don’t know who Roberto Saviano is, I don’t know what role he has.
“I don’t want to give him any importance. He made statements that our lawyers will deal with.”
Then, he commented on if he would shake hands with Giorgio Chiellini.
“I think that’s the minimum. He was my player; he is a young and inexperienced executive.
“I don’t allow myself to give him advice. What happened involves locker room dynamics that are not for me to evaluate, judge, or analyze.”
Finally, Marotta reminded everyone that these things already happened in the past and were in Inter’s favor.
“I have already answered this question,” he said. “In recent years, Inter has been the most successful team, winning the most trophies and accumulating the most points in the league.
“Regarding simulations, I would like to mention a small incident from Juventus-Inter 2021.
“At 2-2, in the 88th minute, Juventus got a penalty for a clear simulation by Juan Cuadrado, a player for whom I have great affection.
“Calvarese was the referee; subsequently, the referee and the technical bodies confirmed it was a clear simulation.
“That simulation led to Juventus’ victory and their qualification for the Champions League, which brought them €60–70 million.”
well, they forgot their second goal started with a (seemed like) foul on lautaro but he chose to stay out of the problem to keep the team calm. the princess treatment they got along these years making them forget how to be respectful human beings when being treated the same as other teams (no special treatments), but choose to pull the victim card.
I didn’t know Chivu winning his first big game would be this sweet. Out of all the teams Juve have been proven for years to benefit from favourable ref calls and they seem to forget about that saying it’s shameful for Bastoni to dive. As if the Kalulu wasn’t stupid to attempt to stop a counter while he’s on a yellow VAR don’t intervene if it’s not a dangerous challenge and if it’s a yellow. The ref can give a yellow even for a soft foul and has a right to do so depending on circumstances and from his perspective the arm 100% extended and stopped a counter attack Kalulu made no effort to play the ball which could’ve been the case. Juve can keep crying and they risk not even finishing in the top 4 for their victim mentality from the very top of their management.
What a professional and a leader. Marotta never disappoints.
Inter is the team in Italy that suffers most from referee mistakes. Inter should have at least 20+ Scudetti if it were not for referee mistakes.
Will everyone in Italy also urge Materazzi to admit his guilt for starting the provocation when he successfully “removed” Zidane from the field in the 2006 World Cup final? After all, that controversial action clearly contributed greatly to Italy’s success in defeating France, thus bringing joy to all of Italy because they managed to bring home the World Cup trophy. You are very naive if you continue to exaggerate any form of controversy that occurs on the field, because it has always been a matter that is almost impossible to eliminate. I once watched a football league that had a rule that prohibited excessive physical contact between opposing players, and do you know what it felt like to watch a match like that? It was like watching a boxing match where the fighters never touched each other.
Wirtz did the same and won a penalty for Liverpool.Move on,this is part of the game,Some of the freats mastered this.Refeeres and even fans were fooled.
Remember we lost our first match against Juve this season with refs mistake. It came to bite them back.
Problem is that they forget like it never happened or do they acknowledge the wrongful decision from the ref and act as the victims and will defend themselves 100%.
thats what happened when you argue with children. i swear most of rubentus fans might be teenagers because they completly forgot who was the culpirt in calciopoli