SPAL blamed referee Rosario Abisso for their 3-1 defeat to Roma, insisting “it wasn’t a red card on Dias Felipe and the second goal was offside.”
The visitors were down to 10 men for 80 minutes after Dias Felipe was at first booked for hauling back Edin Dzeko on the edge of the box, then the official viewed it on VAR and changed his decision to a straight red.
SPAL blamed referee Rosario Abisso for their 3-1 defeat to Roma, insisting “it wasn’t a red card on Dias Felipe and the second goal was offside.”
The visitors were down to 10 men for 80 minutes after Dias Felipe was at first booked for hauling back Edin Dzeko on the edge of the box, then the official viewed it on VAR and changed his decision to a straight red.
“We are in Serie A and want to stay here by playing on the same level as everyone else,” SPAL director general Davide Vagnati told Mediaset Premium.
“The rules talk about a red card now only for clear and evident goal-scoring opportunities. In my view, this incident did not meet that criteria.
“On the second goal, Stephan El Shaarawy was offside: why should that not be flagged? The lads put in a strong performance when down to 10 men against a side like Roma.
“If we are unable to stay in Serie A due to our own errors, then that is our fault, but we won’t go down due to the errors of the referee.
“This is the fourth time that a mistake has been made and the club must point out the rulebook. Now we have to roll our sleeves up, but we also want more attention paid to these issues.”
Coach Leonardo Semplici and the SPAL players would not speak to the media.