The designator can choose with full discretion, so why are we talking about combined choices? He may have decided based on assessments of opportunity or to do favors for the clubs. But no witness speaks of referees being “welcome” or “unwelcome” at Inter
There is an issue that can determine the future and weight of the Milan investigation into referees. Time and space are known: April 2, at San Siro. Specifically, reference is made to Rocchi’s appointments for Bologna-Inter (referee Andrea Colombo chosen) and for Inter-Milan (Daniele Doveri). Both arbitrators were heard by the Prosecutor’s Office as people informed of the facts. But there is one question that still stands out. Some people called to testify – belonging exclusively to the world of arbitration – would have spoken of “combined designations”. But what does it mean since the designator has the right to decide the referees according to his discretionary assessments? Let’s try to explain it, remaining in the field of hypotheses.
option 1
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From some of the testimonies of the referees, heard in the investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office, the “Rocchi system” emerged. A discussion of “children and stepchildren”, whereby designations were combined to advance the careers of some referees at the expense of others. Logics of power, therefore, internal to the category, without involvement of the clubs. Rocchi’s decisions would then have an impact on votes and stops. Those who were “pleasing” to the designator (accused of complicity in sports fraud) would have continued to referee, thus continuing to earn and direct Serie A matches. The big matches would have been a reward for the “aligned”, as would the live help behind the glass in Lissone (but this is the other strand of the investigation). Those who, on the other hand, had not bowed to the “system” would have been purged, disfavoured, disadvantaged. And in fact, those who have reported and presented complaints are exclusively referees or former referees who would have been damaged in some way by Rocchi’s choices: excluded or “made out”.
option 2
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The designations would have been decided by Rocchi not only following internal logic in the world of referees, but for reasons of relationships or assessments of opportunities with respect to clubs. In this direction it should be understood whether the designator could in turn derive advantages from it. Various scenarios could have been hypothesized: the appointment of a referee was a form of protection to avoid problems with the clubs and not to put the referees themselves in difficulty (example: if a referee had done a lot of wrong with a club, it might be inappropriate to reassign him). Or the intention could have been to do direct favors for the companies. However, there is no confirmation on this point. At the moment no member of the Serie A clubs has been interviewed (not even the “club referee managers”, i.e. those delegated to manage relations between the teams and the refereeing class), nor are there any suspects among them, and the famous conversation at San Siro took place between Rocchi and other exponents of the refereeing world. To have a follow-up, the prosecution will therefore have to prove that Colombo and Doveri were chosen because they were “welcome” or “unwelcome” referees at Inter, a circumstance which, as far as we know, has not been confirmed by any witness up to this point.
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