President of the Italian Referees’ Association Alfredo Trentalange is reconsidering his plan to have referees interviewed until they are ‘media-trained.’
Trentalange was elected last month and immediately went about enacting massive changes, the biggest of which was allowing officials to give interviews with the media.
He was a guest on Rai 2 show Dribbling this evening to discuss his change of approach.
President of the Italian Referees’ Association Alfredo Trentalange is reconsidering his plan to have referees interviewed until they are ‘media-trained.’
Trentalange was elected last month and immediately went about enacting massive changes, the biggest of which was allowing officials to give interviews with the media.
He was a guest on Rai 2 show Dribbling this evening to discuss his change of approach.
“I think the time is right to open up the channels of communication and hopefully avoid controversy, but it takes two to approach this with the utmost respect and care,” said Trentalange.
“Words can carry a huge weight. We must seek those that unite rather than divide. We think there is a prejudice towards referees, so if the referee can let himself be known as a person, we can put some of those prejudices aside.
“This can allow us to speak the same language, in a simple and respectful manner.”
The plan had been to send referees to post-match television interviews the same as coaches or players.
However, after Daniele Orsato spoke to RAI television the day after a match, that might no longer be the case.
“After the Orsato experiment, we realised that referees are much better at refereeing than they are at talking,” noted Trentalange.
“I think we need to do some training here, so we’ve taken a moment to pause and reconsider. I still believe firmly in doing that, but we must ensure the referees are prepared and media-trained.
“I think people with good common sense can sort things out without waiting for years.”