“Life and thoughts of a referee” was presented at the Coverciano Football Museum in the presence of Giancarlo Antognoni, head of the delegation of the Under 21 national team and world champion in 1982 and Renzo Ulivieri, president of the Assoallenatori
Paolo Casarin, 85 years old, sixty of whom dedicated to the whistle, told his story in the autobiographical book “Life and thoughts of a referee” which was presented this evening at the Coverciano Football Museum in the presence of Giancarlo Antognoni, head of the delegation of the Under 21 national team and world champion in 1982 and Renzo Ulivieri, president of the Assoallenatori. Doing the honors was Matteo Marani, president of the Museum Foundation, as well as of Serie C. Among the audience was the current designator Gianluca Rocchi.
past and future
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Paolo Casarin is a river in flood when he tells stories of life and football and even the mediator of the event struggles to speak. The former referee talks about the emotions “of entering San Siro, in front of 80 thousand spectators, where in the derby you feel the love of the people for the players and it makes you love football. The referee must be competent and polite. And not count for anything. We must also look to the future and I hope that there are still many young people who will be referees. I would want to take care of the young whistlers”. At his side sits Giancarlo Antognoni who refereed in the dramatic clash with the goalkeeper Martina: “I was in court for him, because I hadn’t punished Martina enough. However, the rule did not provide for the provision when there was an involuntary clash. The clash was terrible, but the court agreed with me. Then I went to FIFA asking for greater caution from the goalkeepers when going out against attackers. So the rule was transformed following that episode. Antognoni wanted to pass the ball over him his head, Martina hit him with her knee and I remained there for a quarter of an hour, without knowing whether he was alive or not”. And on the VAR he says: “At the beginning the protocol was limited to the penalty area to lend a hand, given that the field referee can’t always see what those at the VAR see and so it is useful. The referees must always decide. Refereeing is a matter of men, not of technology.”
antognoni and martina
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Giancarlo Antognoni also recounts one of the most important episodes of his career: “Casarin was one of the most important referees who was sent to referee the most important matches. It happened to me in the match in which I had the clash with Martina and I don’t remember anything of what happened, perhaps he should have been more severe towards Martina, the only thing I can accuse him of is this. He should have at least thrown him out (laughs, ed.)”. And on current events: “If I have to make a comparison between the referees then and the current ones, I believe that before they were more respected even by us players on the pitch and there was a friendly relationship so as not to let them get into difficulty without our support. Today everything is different because technology prevails. Var? You go faster and stronger, there’s a need for it.” Finally Renzo Ulivieri: “Casarin wrote this book which I would have called “Life and thoughts of a kind referee” because he wanted to bring this kindness”.
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