CORRIERE DELLA SERA
11/7/2006 11:52:00 AM
Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera published an extensive article detailing the referee problems seen in the Atalanta-Milan match.
MILAN — A referee should not be assigned to oversee the game of a coach that testified against him in a trail, as is the case with Ancelotti and Pieri. Ancelotti had the courage to testify in this summer’s Italian soccer scandal and say: ‘I cannot confirm that a group of referees exists, but certainly I had the overall sensation that some of the referees were less trustworthy. De Santis, Palanca and Pieri are included in that group… There have been three games in which the referee has damaged
Milan in favour, either directly or indirectly, of Juventus. In particular in the Lecce-Milan game, Pieri refereed in a truly one-sided manner. He booked Maldini who was one yellow card away from being suspended and it was on the eve of the derby.’
Pieri’s behaviour has not improved, actually his direction is more in line with Moggi. He was the referee of Bologna 0-1 Juve in December 2004 which was under scrutiny on June 5 by the police in Rome when he was refered to as, ‘a referee that constantly seems to be absolutely unfair when it comes to dealing with our team,’ by Pagliuca.
There are three reasons why Pieri should not have been assigned to oversee Atalanta-Milan:
The first: Pieri is aware that Ancelotti testified over the summer that he has the overall feeling that some referees were less trustworthy, like De Santis, Palanca and Pieri in the Italian soccer scandal trial.
The second problem: Pieri is being investigated by the prosecutor general in
Naples for sport fraud and is therefore effected by this investigation.
The third problem: Pieri was released from the trial in Reggina and was never punished for his relationship with Moggi and Juventus, the one that was reported by Ancelotti.
Both the technical ability and the fragile morale of the referees are being damaged. Almost all of the referees have avoided any type of disciplinary action and their purification is still far away.
Fabio Monti