Juve fumes over last-gasp penalty for Real
Print Edition
Juventus is still fuming over the penalty that resulted in its elimination from the UEFA Champions League, with club president Andrea Agnelli calling for the removal of UEFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina.
鈥淭he designator should be changed every 3 or 5 years,鈥 Agnelli said, suggesting that since Collina is Italian he overcompensates by making 鈥渋mpartial designations鈥 for matches featuring Serie A clubs.
鈥淎 designator with that much responsibility should be changed every 3 years to avoid this presumption, considering his nationality.鈥
English referee Michael Oliver called the penalty in the third and final minute of stoppage time, leading to Cristiano Ronaldo鈥檚 goal that meant Real Madrid advanced to the semifinals on 4-3 aggregate despite a 1-3 loss in Wednesday鈥檚 second leg.
Juventus defender Medhi Benatia was penalized for trying to keep Lucas Vazquez from scoring after Ronaldo headed down a ball back toward the area. Benatia came from behind Vazquez and appeared to push the forward while making a move for the ball.
Agnelli, who is also president of the European Club Association, demanded that UEFA install the video assistant referee for the UCL. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got the technology to avoid these mistakes. UEFA isn鈥檛 against the VAR, it just has a technical problem that needs to be resolved. If the problem is instructing the referees from all of the federations then let鈥檚 take some of them aside and set up a quick course.鈥
It was a departure from Agnelli鈥檚 comments at last month鈥檚 ECA congress in Rome.
鈥淲e must respect UEFA鈥檚 timing on this matter as they have to train the referees to assist the video referees,鈥 Agnelli said then, adding that he was confident the VAR would be introduced for the 2019-20 season.
Collina, who joined UEFA in 2010, is also running FIFA鈥檚 program for referees at the World Cup, where the VAR will make its tournament debut. The VAR is also used in Serie A. UEFA had no comment over Agnelli鈥檚 words.
Juventus, it should be remembered, was at the heart of the 2006 鈥淐alciopoli鈥 refereeing scandal, when it was uncovered that the club influenced the Italian league鈥檚 referee selectors.
The Turin club was stripped of 2 Serie A titles due to the scandal and relegated to Serie B.
When the penalty on Benatia was called, defender Giorgio Chiellini started waving his fingers as if he were holding bills of money at Real counterpart Raphael Varane, seemingly suggesting that Real had paid someone to influence the match.
Meanwhile, Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon, playing in what was likely his last European match, was sent off for vehement protests during which he lightly bumped the referee.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be cynical enough to destroy a squad鈥檚 dream,鈥 Buffon said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 try and be the protagonist just because you don鈥檛 have the personality to make it on a stage like this one.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have personality stay in the tribune with your wife and eat potato chips. To do this, to ruin an achievement, you must have a garbage bin in place of a heart.鈥
Juventus also appeared upset that Real captain Sergio Ramos was permitted to watch the match from near the sideline despite being suspended.
鈥淭he referee didn鈥檛 understand anything,鈥 said Agnelli.
The penalty was taken eight minutes into stoppage time as it took Oliver a while to clear the protesting Juventus players.
Agnelli was asked if Oliver, who is 33, was too young to handle such a big match. 鈥淚 became president of Juventus at that age. The referee is a quality one but tonight he got confused.鈥
Buffon, who said he would retire this season unless Juventus won the UCL, embraced Ronaldo before he left the field.
鈥淩eal deserved to advance. I want to complement them,鈥 Buffon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always an honor to face them but we also deserved at least to go to extra time.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
