'Super refs' for Serie A 16-Jan-2007
*ROME (ANSA)* - An elite group of 20 'super refs' will be set up to
officiate Serie A games as part of reforms to clean up Italian soccer after
the Calciopoli scandal.
The move was announced by former ref Cesare Gussoni, the recently-appointed
interim chief of the Italian Referees Association (AIA).
Gussoni said it will enable AIA and the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) to
focus on the development of Italy's best referees. This, in turn, should
lower the number of mistakes made in top-flight games.
At the moment Serie A and Serie B are refereed by 41 officials, not all of
whom are in the 'first class' category.
"It does not make sense to have a system of 40 men who are all considered to
be of the same level and totally interchangeable," explained Gussoni, who
did not specify when the reform would come into force.
He added that in the future AIA could send 'super refs' to officiate matches
in foreign championships.
At the same time, Serie A might be opened up to referees from other parts of
Europe.
The Calciopoli scandal centred around alleged attempts to have some teams'
games handled by 'friendly' refs.
Although no referees were found guilty of match-fixing, the scandal seemed
to confirm suspicions that they favoured big clubs like Juventus and AC
Milan, which were both punished for involvement. A number of club and FIGC
officials were banned from the game in the scandal's fallout.
Controversies have continued to flare up regularly about Italian referees'
mistakes this season. But a suspicious media's general feeling is that
slip-ups are being shared out equally now and not concentrated on less
influential sides. Gussoni also announced that the referees will have a
spokesperson to stick up for them in post-match press conferences and TV
shows when they are taking flack from players and coaches.
"I did not think it would be helpful to let the referees defend their work
when they are still feeling the adrenalin of the game," he said. "That's why
I thought it best to give a spokesperson the job of representing them".
Gussoni said his revolution had nothing to do with retired refereeing great
Pierluigi Collina's arrival on the AIA's management team as a consultant.
On Tuesday European soccer's governing body UEFA announced that its
mid-season course for top referees will take place in Rome next month.
Collina, who was voted world's best ref a record five times and is a member
of UEFA's Referees Committee, will be among the experts lending a hand.
*Source(text): ANSA* *Source(images): Associated Press*
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