Serie A referees: Rocchi bowls Zufferli and postpones Duties

Bad day. And all at the end of the two Atalanta-Juventus and Turin-Monza matches. Daniele Doveri (expert, very expert) and Gianluca Zufferli (born in ’90 in his third match in A) ran into conductions that showed imperfections, in the first case due to lack of common sense and in the second in two-three episodes that should have shown a different outcome . The opposite, in practice. Bad day yes. Probably also in the assessment that Gianluca Rocchi will make as the Can A and B designator.

You need a clear line

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The 12.30 match reactivated those events that (for Juventus-Inter) had been opened, closed, reopened and then closed (with the cancellation of the disqualification) for Lukaku. Different episode, also because Doveri also interrupted the game hearing racist chants (“gypsy of…”) and started the more just and classic procedure, or rather the announcement – post temporary suspension – by the speaker. With the inspectors of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office who obviously recorded what happened and noted it down. In the end, in added time, Vlahovic scores and Doveri immediately runs towards the player as the right preventive measure, to ensure that Dusan does not go under the Atalanta curve. Dusan swerves, but in the meantime the exultation flows out of him anyway: the chants to him are resumed with the restart of the race and after putting his finger in sign of silence, here he is rejoicing with clenched fists. Doveri shows him yellow but – given the precedents and also the context that had arisen – common sense could have prevailed. Only the referee report will be able to clarify times, methods and choices. Certainly, after the Lukaku case and this one, it will be necessary to demarcate a uniform line: possibly (and probably) soon.

Red and yellow

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Then, here we are in Turin, on the grenade side, Turin-Monza. Luca Zufferli (in his third match in Serie A: Bologna-Monza 0-1, Motta complained a lot about the refereeing, and Cremonese-Empoli 1-0 the other two) is not wrong in positioning but yes in choices. And so does the Var (Abbattista) because Rovella’s hold on Ricci in the 42nd minute of the second half deserved another finish. Zufferli is part of that group of young people that Gianluca Rocchi – little by little – launches for the generational change necessary for the refereeing category. But yesterday he really wouldn’t have liked Zufferli. And with him, precisely, the Var who should have intervened precisely in that situation at the end of the match. In short, a bad day, with Rocchi who will draw his own conclusions: just as he didn’t stop Ghersini and – in his time – Serra and Sacchi yes, so there could be a stop with the young Zufferli and a chat with Doveri. The “Bignami” of their day is: red in Zufferli and… yellow in Doveri. The rest, we’ll see.