Lazio spokesman Arturo Diaconale launched extraordinary accusations of refereeing errors trying to favour Inter and Milan for European qualification.
The race for a spot in the Europa League is very tight, as only fourth and fifth in Serie A enter automatically, and currently Milan are sixth with Inter in seventh.
Lazio spokesman Arturo Diaconale launched extraordinary accusations of refereeing errors trying to favour Inter and Milan for European qualification.
The race for a spot in the Europa League is very tight, as only fourth and fifth in Serie A enter automatically, and currently Milan are sixth with Inter in seventh.
“The officiating in Genoa-Lazio made us angry because, aside from the individual clear incidents, it seems incredible that they were unable to recognise two stonewall penalties,” Diaconale told Lazio Style Radio, the club’s official station.
“It makes me think that it’s because we are coming towards the end of the season. Lazio are in a strong position at the end of a good campaign and have a very good chance of getting back into Europe.
“What happened in Genoa feeds a climate of worry and suspicion for what could happen next. If this is the path we are on, the impression is that there could be attempts to condition this end of the season period to favour other teams.
“Perhaps someone has a vested interest in getting at least one of the Milanese clubs back into Europe. I don’t understand why we should have to pay the price for the Chinese clubs entering, with all due respect.
“I hope that the results in these final few weeks of the season are not affected. It has so far been a calm campaign that doesn’t need to be poisoned in the final matches.
“We hope that Lazio-Palermo has a fair and objective referee, who is not conditioned. Our experience in Genoa puts us on guard, but mustn’t just alarm the fans and Lazio players – it should alarm everyone.
“Poisoning the tail end of the season would not help anyone. I want to also note a newspaper headline that said Lazio’s balance sheet was getting worse, but reading the article itself, you could see they had actually improved.
“Lazio are one of the few clubs who can boast their accounts are in order, so we have to underline this tendency to excessively criticise Lazio with prejudice that is difficult to remove.”