Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso has claimed he points out the “inconsistencies” in the refereeing decisions to help Italian football.
In the aftermath of a 3-0 defeat to Juventus on Sunday, the Viola patron sparked controversy by claiming that “the referee decided the match”, leading to a feud between him and Bianconeri Vice-President Pavel Nedved.
Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso has claimed he points out the “inconsistencies” in the refereeing decisions to help Italian football.
In the aftermath of a 3-0 defeat to Juventus on Sunday, the Viola patron sparked controversy by claiming that “the referee decided the match”, leading to a feud between him and Bianconeri Vice-President Pavel Nedved.
Commisso has now claimed he spoke out to “defend the interests of my own team” and to help the opinion of the Italian game that is “exported to the world”.
“My approach was not only addressed to Juventus. I did it for Italian football, which is what is exported to the world,” Commisso told the Corriere dello Sport. “On ESPN, for example, these inconsistencies have been underlined live, even before I said anything.
“There have been facts and I have intervened to defend the interests of my own team. It was not a request for favours towards my team, but a greater equality in the judgement.”
“When Juventus came to the Franchi, for the League game, they were noble. Same goes for Andrea Agnelli or even John Elkann, with whom I laughed in New York. I don’t have to talk to [Pavel] Nedved about it.
“I’m absolutely not repentant. I’m a fighter, my strength has always been to not step back on anything.”
He went on to point at a situation at Inter, where he felt Federico Chiesa had received rough treatment, and a situation where Lecce defender Panagiotis Tachtsidis came unpunished from a foul that sidelined Franck Ribery.
“What happened in Turin, was only the last episode. The foul from Tachtidis wasn’t even awarded a yellow card, but we had to cope without Ribery for four months and it has been a big damage to us.
“Chiesa was targeted against Inter, once again there were no disciplinary sanctions and he has paid the consequences with his ankle. These two episodes are only parts of the tip of the iceberg.”