Online Reporter
The man in charge of assigning Serie A and B referees, Gianluca Rocchi, has suspended himself from the role with immediate effect while under investigation for sports fraud by Milan’s Public Prosecutor’s Office.
VAR supervisor Andrea Gervasoni has taken similar action for the same reasons, and the investigation is looking into incidents during last season’s Serie A campaign.
“This choice, painful, difficult but shared with my family, is intended to allow the legal proceedings to run their course properly, from which I am sure I will come out unscathed and stronger than before,” Rocchi’s statement to Italy’s referees’ association (AIA) said.According to Italian media reports, Rocchi is accused of interfering with VAR protocols along with selecting referees preferable to Inter Milan.
“We are learning everything from the media, so we are stunned by the declarations,” Inter President Giuseppe Marotta told Sky Sports before his side’s game at Torino on Sunday.“We do not have referees that we favour or are unfavourable towards, we are confident that we acted entirely fairly, which should reassure everyone.
“We are safe in the knowledge that Inter are not involved in this situation and will not be involved in the future.”
The news has sparked fears in Italy of another crisis, similar to the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal which saw Juventus stripped of the 2004-05 Serie A title and relegated to Serie B, with AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina also involved.
Meanwhile, AC Milan and Juventus played out a 0-0 draw at the San Siro on Sunday, a second stalemate between the sides in Serie A this season, with both clubs on course for a place in next season’s Champions League.
Inter lead the standings on 79 points, 10 ahead of Napoli with Milan a further two points back in third on 67. Juve hold the all-important fourth spot with 64 points, three ahead of Como and AS Roma with four rounds remaining.
There were no goals when the sides met in Turin back in October, and Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri again had to settle for a share of the spoils against the club where he won five league titles. After an uneventful, cagey opening, former Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot fired the first shot on target late in the opening half, his powerful strike from the edge of the area parried away by Michele Di Gregorio.
Khephren Thuram had the ball in the net at the other end moments later but the goal was ruled out for offside, as the game finally sparked into life, and Milan keeper Mike Maignan denied Francisco Conceicao before the break.
Conceicao, a constant threat on the right wing, had another effort saved by Maignan shortly after the break before Alexis Saelemaekers rattled the Juve crossbar but the game petered out to its almost inevitable goalless conclusion. —Reuters.
