The old Italian soccer chestnut
of alleged favouritism for Juventus was dusted off after their
referee-error-strewn 3-2 win over Roma Sunday, with questions
asked in parliament about the two bourse-listed clubs as the
Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) urged FIFA to speed
technological aid for officials and Italy coach Antonio Conte
vowed to help calm things down.
Champions Juventus prevailed and took sole command of the
Serie A standings thanks to two dubious penalties and a winning
goal that perhaps should have been disallowed for offside.
Democratic Party MP Marco Miccolis said he wanted Italy's
financial market regulator and economy ministry to look into the
Juve-Roma errors.
Miccoli's complaint was based on "the events recorded
(Sunday) night during the game between Juventus and Roma" which
he said make Italy look bad and hurt shareholders' value.
"Remember that Roma and Juventus are publicly traded
companies," he said.
Errors of the sort seen in Sunday's match will drive away
future investors, said Miccoli.
Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio
told ANSA on Monday that he would request FIFA accelerate the
introduction of technology to help referees after the storm
raised by the officiating of Juventus's 3-2 win.
Tavecchio said he would be the "promoter
of a request to FIFA" to accelerate the introduction of
technology "for cases of doubt about the position (of a
player)".
The two penalties were given for offences that
appeared to be slightly outside the area, while an offside Juve
player appeared to be close to the line of the winning shot.
Unlike many other sports, soccer does not give referees the
opportunity to use video replays to make tough decisions.
Italy coach Conte said he hoped his national team can bring
much-needed calm to Italian football after the storm.
"I want my lads to concentrate exclusively on the matches
to be played," former Juve boss Conte told reporters ahead of
Euro 2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan in Palermo on Friday and
away to Malta three days later.
"We'll try to bring calm to this climate with the national
team.
"I'm not worried about the relations between the players
(from the two teams)," he added.
"When you represent a club, it's right to fight for your
flag, but there's only one flag in Club Italia".
The row over Sunday's match has resurrected long-standing
suspicions about referees allegedly favouring Turin giants Juve,
Italy's most successful domestic team with 30 Serie A titles.
It has also brought back painful memories of the 2006
Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, which saw Juve stripped of two
league titles and demoted to the second tier for a year for
involvement in attempts to arrange compliant referees for some
teams' matches.
AS Roma captain Francesco Totti said Juve had been winning
"by hook or by crook" for years and suggested they go and play
in a tournament of their own as "we'll always come second when
they are in it".
Roma coach Rudi Garcia said it appeared that the Juve
penalty areas were "17 metres long" and said the row had "hurt
football".
Conte, who led his former side Juve to three consecutive
scudetti before leaving the club in the close season, refused to
say whether he was happy to be outside the row.
"Now I'm above everything, I'm Italy coach," Conte told
reporters at Italy's training base near Florence.
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