Criscitiello: ‘Amateurish’ Juventus management should apologise to Spalletti | OneFootball

Italian journalist Michele Criscitiello launched a scathing attack on AIA chief Gianluca Rocchi following the Derby d’Italia refereeing debacle, but the Juventus hierarchy wasn’t spared either.

The Bianconeri suffered a heartbreaking 2-3 defeat to their arch-rivals Inter on Saturday evening, but the big showdown was blemished by a glaring refereeing error towards the end of the first half.

Match official Federico La Penna showed Pierre Kalulu a second yellow for supposedly blocking Alessandro Bastoni’s run. However, it turned out that the Frenchman had hardly touched his opponent, who took a dive, and should have been the one to receive a second booking for simulation.

Criscitiello urges Gianluca Rocchi to resign immediately after Derby d’Italia debacle

After the contest, there have been widespread calls for Rocchi to step down from his role as Serie A designator, and Crisctiello believes the change must occur immediately.

“The blame lies with Gianluca Rocchi. A madman who assigns Inter–Juventus to La Penna and puts Daniele Doveri on bench-policing duty,” wrote the Sportitalia editor-in-chief in his weekly column

“Rocchi shouldn’t be suspended or renewed (thankfully that’s not possible); Rocchi must be dismissed immediately. What more does this man have to do to be removed from football for good?

“He’s distorting a championship, burning a system, and stripping the league of credibility. Rocchi must be sent off—no ifs, no buts.”

Gianluca Rocchi (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

Curiously, Rocchi had blamed Bastoni and other players for hampering the referees’ job with their diving, but Criscitiello tells the AIA chief that it is his job to implement a system capable of detecting and punishing these acts.

“The FIGC cannot be dictated to by the AIA in its own house. The VAR protocol is a joke. They put cameras in referees’ ears, and fifteen people still can’t prevent a glaring mistake. They disallow goals for a toenail offside, yet can’t use VAR to see clearly that Alessandro Bastoni was putting on a show.

“Lecturing a player is a waste of time. If the referee is poor and can’t see properly from a meter away, that’s on him—he should change jobs.

“Bastoni makes only one mistake: the celebration. When you get a deceptive red card or score an own goal, common sense says you don’t celebrate in your opponents’ faces.

“And if Rocchi complains about diving, the fault is his alone and lies in his reckless refereeing standard,” added Criscitiello.

“Players are right to go down because they know there are suckers who whistle for everything—half penalties and half contacts. So, before talking about Bastoni, Rocchi should ask himself why everyone does it.

“Again, it’s entirely his fault. La Penna should never have refereed Inter–Juventus. In his career, he should only ever have handled Spezia–Frosinone—, and that would already have been generous given his level.”

Criscitiello slams Juventus directors

Following the Bastoni-Kalulu incident, Luciano Spalletti confronted La Penna in the tunnel at half-time. Footage also showed Juventus CEO Damien Comolli and club director Giorgio Chiellini taking swipes at the referee.

Criscitiello insists this wasn’t the right place to protest, as he describes the Bianconeri management as ‘amateurish’.

“The conduct of Juventus executives was amateurish. You don’t kick up a fuss with referees and institutions on the pitch or in the tunnel; you do it in the proper venues. But this club lacks the basics.

“Giorgio Chiellini is still learning the ropes, Damien Comolli doesn’t understand how things work in Italy, and John Elkann lives in his gilded world.”

Finally, he believes the Juventus directors owe Spalletti an apology for failing to recruit the centre-forward he requested, as a proper striker would have won them the game.

“Someone should apologise to Luciano Spalletti and to Juventus supporters. It was an undeserved defeat—and had Spalletti had a decent No. 9, he would have won it even with ten men.”