Giampaolo Calvarese slammed referee Davide Massa after Sunday’s Serie A showdown between Como and Inter Milan.
Analyzing Massa’s performance in his latest Tuttosport column, Calvarese commented on the 44-year-old’s decision to award a controversial penalty to Como, as reported by FCInter1908.
Inter Milan hauled back a two-goal deficit to beat the Lariani 4-3 in a nail-biting contest at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.
Despite Lautaro Martinez’s absence, Cristian Chivu’ side found a way to respond to Como’s quick-fire double toward the end of the first half.
Indeed, Marcus Thuram launched Inter’s comeback with goals on either side of halftime, drawing the visitors level before the 50-minute mark.
Then, Denzel Dumfries netted a second-half double to put the Nerazzurri 4-2 up before Lucas Da Cunha pulled one back for Como in the 89th minute.
Da Cunha converted a controversial penalty, with Massa pointing to the spot after Ange-Yoan Bonny’s reckless tackle on Nico Paz.
However, the 44-year-old’s decision was dubious, to say the least.
Giampaolo Calvarese Slams Davide Massa After Como 3-4 Inter Milan Controversy
Paz had already unleashed a shot well wide of Yann Sommer’s goal before Bonny brought him to the ground. Meanwhile, Massa pointed to the spot straight away.
Despite receiving a call from VAR to review the incident, Massa refused to change his mind.
“An indication of a very low disciplinary threshold for a referee of his experience,” Calvarese said. “The handball by Bastoni on Douvikas’ shot is not punishable due to the referee’s natural positioning.
“However, the issue lies with the penalty awarded to Como.
“There is nothing foul about the Nico Paz–Bonny contact,” the former Serie A referee explained. “Nico Paz, while shooting, ends up hitting Bonny, who is attempting to block the shot.
“What occurs is simply a game contact, not a penalty foul. Therefore, the decision to award the penalty was wrong.”
Watch the barella breakaway on the highlights of Inter 4 – 0 Como. Barella is put through on goal by Martinez then
he shoots (and misses) but is then taken out by a como player sliding in to him.
It wasn’t called a penalty….and neither should the Paz one.
It is Paz who makes contact with Bonny as it is his foot swinging in to Bonny’s body, not Bonny slamming in to Paz.
imagine if there was Jube or Bilan player instead of Bonny, the calls will be goal kick
Suspend him for a month
He was just giving yellow card like water.
I feel like we still live in the 90s after so much errors from italian referees. It’s like Var dont exist anymore.
I do not remember the last time Masa made a good decision in Inter games. Yesterday, he tried to make us finish with 10 players.
I feel like the challenge for Dumfries was the other way around it’s a straight red card.
China has 3 referees selected to world cup 2026, while only 4 in total of Italian referees. This can make so much sense how bad Italian referees are now. That was a clearly post action after Paz shot, and he still called the penalty. This is purely XXXXXXXX
this is shocking to say the least. He was called to review VAR but totally rejected and stuck with his decision. The heck!
Referee association need to be overhauled for next season. Something needs to change. So many mistakes the past 2 years and low quality referees.