The Referees’ Association and Nicola Rizzoli will sue a media chief who said he’d "certainly" favour Juventus against Napoli.
Rizzoli had originally been assigned to Saturday’s big game, but pulled out with a muscular injury and it will be officiated by Daniele Orsato instead.
Earlier this week, TGcom director Paolo Liguori was a guest on Italia 1 show Tiki Taka when he made the comments.
The Referees’ Association and Nicola Rizzoli will sue a media chief who said he’d "certainly" favour Juventus against Napoli.
Rizzoli had originally been assigned to Saturday’s big game, but pulled out with a muscular injury and it will be officiated by Daniele Orsato instead.
Earlier this week, TGcom director Paolo Liguori was a guest on Italia 1 show Tiki Taka when he made the comments.
“Is Rizzoli the best referee? Yes, but not at the Juventus Stadium for this game. I have no proof, but I do have an important sequence of statistics that suggest when he does make a mistake, those few times, he does them in one direction.
“There’s no point beating about the bush, as it’s with this attitude that Calciopoli exploded and people still ask why nobody said anything at the time.”
Liguori then went on Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli to make similar controversial statements.
“It’s certain, mathematically predictable, that there will be a refereeing error in Turin in favour of Juventus. You can say I’m a crazy visionary if you like. We have few certainties in life and this is one of them.
“Remember what happened in the head-to-head between Inter and Juve with Iuliano’s foul on Ronaldo? We cannot avoid making certain comments today.
“If they want to prove me wrong, then assign Orsato, but if they assign Rizzoli then it’s a certainty there will be errors. The Bianconeri are strong, listen to me.”
Now the Italian Referees’ Association (AIA) and Rizzoli have been given the all-clear to sue Liguori for defamation.