Referee Gianluca Rocchi reportedly said his “conscience is clear” over the controversial Juventus–Roma decisions.
Referee Gianluca Rocchi reportedly said his “conscience is clear” over the controversial Juventus-Roma decisions.
The official was lambasted in the media, as the two Bianconeri penalties might or might not have been inside the box, while Arturo Vidal was possibly interfering with play when offside for Leonardo Bonucci’s winner.
“The players did not help me and in any case my conscience is clear,” Rocchi is quoted as telling colleagues in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“With the Maicon penalty I was taken in by the spray. I saw it was well inside the box and changed my mind.”
He had originally awarded a free kick right on the edge of the area for Douglas Maicon’s handling offence, but after the Juve players pointed out the spray had placed the wall comfortably inside, Rocchi assumed the contact must also have been there.
In fact, the Roma players and Maicon had crept forward a great deal to charge down Andrea Pirlo’s free kick.
Rocchi will not be given any Serie A games until November, as there are fears the media coverage will cause any decision to be contested.
La Gazzetta dello Sport also maintain refereeing designators believe the only real error was Maicon’s handling offence for the penalty.
They judged Vidal to not be interfering with play on Bonucci’s goal, while it was almost impossible with the naked eye to see whether Miralem Pjanic had tripped Paul Pogba inside the box.
The foul occurred either just before or on the line, but the line itself counts as part of the penalty area.