Referee Chaos: Calvarese Responds to Adrien Rabiot

The Genoa-Milan match had a bitter aftertaste: After the match, Adrien Rabiot took to social media to vent his frustration over referee Massa’s decision not to send off Genoa defender Marcandalli, who had fouled him as he was breaking toward the Ligurian team’s goal.

On his Instagram profile, former referee Calvarese had justified Massa’s decision to issue only a yellow card: “You have to consider the direction of the play, the distance from the goal, the number of defenders, and possession of the ball.” The French international responded harshly: “In life as in soccer, mistakes can be made—you must at least be able to admit them. Lying constantly won’t get you anywhere. And it’s Italian soccer that suffers the consequences… Think about it. Bonne soirée.”

Calvarese addressed the issue again in the pages of *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, stating: “Let’s make it clear right away that this is a complex situation; we’re in a gray area. If referee Massa had shown a red card, VAR would not have intervened.”

“It must be said that for a scoring opportunity to be considered clear, the four DOGSO parameters must be verified: possession of the ball, general direction of play, number of defenders, and distance from the goal. And here, Rabiot is about 65 meters from the goal, in a slightly off-center position. That’s why Massa chose to show a yellow card.”