AIA President Marcello Nicchi praised the referees after an ‘unfortunate’ year and stressed ‘it’s irresponsible to criticise match officials just for the sake of it’.
The chief of the Referees' Association spoke of the prizes given to Pierluigi Collina and Daniele Orsato and praised the match officials for stepping up in a difficult time for football.
“The referees were heroic in this unfortunate 2020 due to the pandemic,” he told Radio Sportiva. “The managed to ensure their performance in all categories.
AIA President Marcello Nicchi praised the referees after an ‘unfortunate’ year and stressed ‘it’s irresponsible to criticise match officials just for the sake of it’.
The chief of the Referees' Association spoke of the prizes given to Pierluigi Collina and Daniele Orsato and praised the match officials for stepping up in a difficult time for football.
“The referees were heroic in this unfortunate 2020 due to the pandemic,” he told Radio Sportiva. “The managed to ensure their performance in all categories.
“We must pay homage to them because it was, and it is, hard. From a technical point of view, there’s little to comment.
“The few mistakes that were made have all been analysed by the technical bodies and any discrepancies were immediately corrected.
“We have been given international awards such as Pierluigi Collina being named the best referee of all time and Daniele Orsato the best referee of the year.
“Then there were errors, but whoever criticise the referees for the sake of criticising is irresponsible.”