In the morning, the refereeing team that will direct Milan-Juventus was announced: the big match of this day in Serie A was entrusted to Daniele Orsato.
LAZIO – The last cross between the Rossoneri and Schio’s whistle, which took place in the last championship in Lazio-Milan on 26 April 2021, saw Orsato decisive in the negative. The Venetian referee became the protagonist of a definitely questionable decision that irremediably directed the game: the 2-0 scored by Correa was obviously spoiled by a bad foul by Lucas Leiva on Calhanoglu at the beginning of the action in midfield. The referee, on the other hand, did not report anything and validated the goal, before being recalled to an OFR by the VAR Mazzoleni. Orsato proved to be annoyed and almost annoyed by the impeccable call of his colleague, and did nothing to hide it: the OFR lasted eleven seconds in number, and at the end of the replay review the referee’s lip was clearly read addressed to the room VAR: “But what did you tell me?”. So much presumption and arrogance that finally led Orsato to validate the goal, thus taking on a sensational topic.
SAMPDORIA – Not only Lazio-Milan, the Rossoneri were unlucky with the Montecchio Maggiore referee even during a trip to Genoa against Sampdoria: 30 March 2019, Giampaolo’s Sampdoria wins in Marassi against Rino Gattuso’s Rossoneri thanks to a goal from Defrel (Marchiano di Donnarumma error). Huge controversy at the end of the game for a reckless intervention by Murru: Bakayoko serves Piatek in depth who enters the area, only to be landed by the Dorian defender who in a slip overwhelms the Polish center-forward from behind. From the VAR room Doveri calls Orsato to the OFR, but the result is the same as for Lazio-Milan. The race director obviously does not digest the corrections of his colleagues and even in this case he does not change his mind: no penalty.
ROME-JUVE – “Put yourself in my shoes: the goalkeeper comes out, foul, penalty. No, offside. […] I whistle, the ball ends up in the net… What if I don’t whistle? The advantage over the penalty is never given, eh. Uè, it’s a penalty kick. Now blame it on me because you missed the penalty? No huh!“. To talk about Orsato’s bad figure in Juventus-Roma on 17 October 2021, one can only start from his statements intercepted by the cameras in the stadium tunnel before the two teams entered the field for the shooting. Let’s try to clarify: in the first half Mkhytarian, on the right side of the small area, tries to overcome Szczesny: the Polish goalkeeper, in low exit, landslide on the Armenian committing a foul. The ball, however, carom, after a touch of the hand of the number 77 (but this year the “punishment in any case” is only for those who score directly), to Abraham, who scores with an empty net. But stop everyone, before the ball went into the net Orsato whistles a penalty which Roma then incredibly misses (and the referee does not repeat despite several Juventus defenders entering the area before the serve). The players of Mourinho are incredulous, who insistently ask the referee for a clarification for the sudden whistle during a clear scoring opportunity. Hence Orsato’s response, which denotes presumption and football ignorance: apart from the not pleasant tone, the referee affirms: “The advantage over a penalty is never given”. That one of the high-level Italian referees (or at least, so they say) affirms such a thing, among other things with arrogance and sufficiency, is very serious. In fact, the regulation states that: “The advantage must not be applied in situations involving a serious foul play, violent conduct or an offense involving a second caution, unless there is a clear opportunity to score a goal. […] The referee may apply the advantage whenever an infringement occurs, but must consider the following circumstances when deciding whether to apply the advantage or stop the game: the position in which the infringement was committed: the closer it is to the opponent’s goal, the more effective the advantage can be”.
So Orsato not only committed a very serious error of interpretation for these levels, but he also defended his choice with presumption and superficiality. But are we really sure it’s suitable for a big match like Milan-Juventus on Sunday night?
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