FIGC President Gabriele Gravina praises Italian referees, but warns clubs that reducing Serie A to 18 teams is only the beginning. ‘If they want to keep dancing on the Titanic, then I’ll stop the music.’
The Federation had a meeting today and Gravina participated in a press conference, where he discussed several topics troubling the world of Calcio.
There has been a great deal of controversy in recent weeks over refereeing decisions and the inability of VAR to intervene when there are clear and obvious errors.
“In the opening 21, there were 206 Serie A games with 1,076 VAR checks. Of those checks, there were 91 errors, 82 of which were corrected. Looking at the percentages, if VAR was not there, we would’ve had 8.49 per cent errors, but it was reduced to 0.84 per cent. That is a drop from the 0.89 per cent of last season.
“There is a contraction of errors and that is a great sign for our referees. That is also reflected in that fact that Italian referees and VAR officials are the most used in international competitions, 15 per cent compared to 11 per cent from the Premier League and just 3-4 per cent from the other federations.
“The FIFA refereeing co-ordinator is Italian, so are those of UEFA and CONCACAF. Various leagues and federations call us to ask for our referees in the most important matches, but in Italy people still cannot seem to grasp their quality.”
Gravina has been trying to push through substantial reforms to Serie A and the Lega already hit back, threatening to veto a reduction from 20 teams per season to 18.
“The problem of reform in Italian football is not just that, and I am stunned that it is being reduced to the number of clubs. I find that offensive,” responded Gravina.
“The main issue is guaranteeing security and genuine sustainability. Today we are in an emergency phase because we were unable to deal with matters when they were merely urgent.”
The FIGC has commissioned financial specialists Deloitte to draw up a strategy for reforms and it will be unveiled next month.
“When I present the strategic plan, I want the names of those who approve the plan to safeguard football and those who instead talk about reforms without putting them into practice.
“If they want to continue dancing on the Titanic, then I will stop the music.”
Serie A had been only 16 teams for many years, expanding to 18 and the move to 20 was only made in the 2004-05 campaign.
That was not so much a choice as a desperate bid to prevent on-going legal action from Catania, who were protesting their relegation.
Gravina: "Nostri arbitri apprezzati in tutto il mondo, in Italia non si comprende ancora la qualità" https://t.co/RCUVxH9rnz
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