Paulo Sousa complained that the officials were “rude and turned their backs” on Fiorentina after a controversial 2-1 defeat to Empoli.
The game was decided by a stoppage-time penalty converted by former Viola captain Manuel Pasqual, one of several dubious refereeing decisions.
“I think everyone can make mistakes, but you have to admit to them, not just turn your back on them the way the officials did today,” Sousa told Mediaset Premium.
Paulo Sousa complained that the officials were “rude and turned their backs” on Fiorentina after a controversial 2-1 defeat to Empoli.
The game was decided by a stoppage-time penalty converted by former Viola captain Manuel Pasqual, one of several dubious refereeing decisions.
“I think everyone can make mistakes, but you have to admit to them, not just turn your back on them the way the officials did today,” Sousa told Mediaset Premium.
Nikola Kalinic was so furious that he was shown a red card after the final whistle for insulting the referee, so he’ll be suspended against Inter.
“We are a team who struggle if we don’t keep possession. We pushed forward from the start, but lost the ball too many times when we should’ve made the final pass.
“I don’t think it’s an issue of mentality. We must focus on winning the games and have what it takes to achieve that. All decisions require some sort of risk, we had less control of the space and allowed Empoli too many chances.
“We used the players that should’ve allowed us to win the game, but unfortunately some incidents meant that we could not win.
“What irritated me about the officials was that they didn’t even turn around to salute us at the end. That really was rude.”
It was a bad performance all round from the referee and his assistants, as Cristian Tello’s goal for Fiorentina was offside in the build-up.