Heated Clash Between Alfredo Pedullà and Giovanni Capuano: “Ignorant and Rude”
“If I were as rude as you, I’d have changed careers,” Alfredo Pedullà told Giovanni Capuano. A heated verbal exchange took place on Sportitalia. It all started after Capuano made a critical remark about referee coordinator Daniele Orsato: “This guy didn’t even make it clear whether those were penalties or not; last year, the referee coordinator would have been rightly crucified.” When Pedullà retorted, “You’re just Rocchi’s little protégé,” the situation took a nasty turn and kept even the most distracted viewers glued to the screen.
“A colleague with your level of professionalism shouldn’t get personal but should present arguments: if you had any knowledge of the subject, you’d know the statistics,” was Capuano’s latest jab. “Fortunately, I’m not as ignorant as you,” retorted Pedullà, who obviously didn’t take it well. And it didn’t end there, because the two then moved on to other topics while no one in the studio dared to intervene…: the video, as expected, is making the rounds on social media.
The standard of judgment imposed by Orsato has been at the center of the debate since the early rounds of the championship. In the Juventus–Milan match in early September, Cissé’s goal resulted from a challenge by De Winter on Kolo Muani—a play that last season would likely have been subject to an on-field review, whereas this time the VAR did not intervene. Luciano Spalletti welcomed the decision: “The approach being taken is correct: we’re aligning with European standards; borders no longer exist.” DAZN analyst Luca Marelli was more cautious: “I’m fine with this use of VAR, but my hope is that they don’t overdo it.” According to Marelli, even after the 28th league match, the interpretive approach remained difficult to define.
A comparison with the previous administration brings to mind a season marked by constant tensions surrounding the refereeing corps. After the Inter-Juventus match in February, with Kalulu’s ejection and Bastoni’s dive, Gianluca Rocchi, then the referee coordinator, had admitted La Penna’s mistake (“The referee is mortified, and we stand by him”), also speaking of a league “where they’re trying every which way to screw us over.” In those same weeks, Enrico Varriale had harshly criticized the referees following the Atalanta-Napoli and Milan-Parma matches, going so far as to call for Rocchi’s resignation.
The climate of mistrust reached its peak in March, in Carrara. At the end of the Carrarese-Catanzaro match, which ended 3-3 after a penalty kick was retaken due to a player entering the penalty area, Rocchi—who was in the stands observing Dionisi’s officiating—was heavily insulted by fans in the stands. According to some accounts, a fan had even thrown banknotes at him. The referee coordinator left the stadium escorted by law enforcement, in an incident that highlighted the delicate relationship of trust between the public and the refereeing community.
