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Italy’s Pierluigi Collina in action , widely acknowledged to be the best referee in the world before his retirement last year. He is one of the nation’s referees known to be uncorruptable |
The ref’s a @*±!% but is he corrupt?
Dr John Foot explains the cultural differences that mean the Italians expect corruption in football,writes Richard Osley
WHEN a football referee makes a decision that supporters don’t like, he is an oaf. A stupid oaf.
He is cursed and parodied in equal measure – but nobody in England ever suspects them of corruption.
Dr John Foot, lecturer in Italian history at University College London, will argue at lunchtime today (Thursday) that in Italy it is a different story and that a general disrespect for authority trickles down to the man in the middle.
His conclusion is that in a country where government and business have been stained by corruption, the natural assumption is that the same dodgy goings on can change the course of a football match. Or even a season.
There were no surprises, then, when some of Italy’s biggest clubs were found to be tapping up referees and linesmen last year, a scandal that led to Juventus being stripped of their championship and demoted, and other big teams docked points.
The scale of the corruption was revealed when recordings of secret telephone conversations were revealed.
Dr Foot – who lays out his argument as part of the university’s season of free public lectures – says: “People assumed it was going on so they were not that shocked by it at all.
“In Italy there is an assumption that everything is controlled by the big clubs and that that is why they are the ones that win every year.
“Juventus had won 29 times, although were stripped of the last two. The system of choosing referees for particular matches was fixed. It was supposed to be done by drawing numbers out of hat but it was controlled, fixed and people had always suspected it.”
A keen Arsenal fan who divides his time between London and Milan – until recently he lived in Dartmouth Park, Dr Foot says: “It was subtle. Sometimes referees would book good players in the match before they were to play a big team so that they would be suspended and couldn’t play in certain matches. It takes the fun out of it – it makes it like wrestling – but the level of money involved in Italian football is that big clubs cannot afford not to get into the Champions League (pan-Europe competition). Without the money from that, they would go bust.
“It goes back to the start of the 20th century and is the culture in Italy. People see corruption in all walks of life – I would argue football is a very important part of life in Italy. There is a suspicion of authority and that extends to the referee.”
Dr Foot, who last year published Calcio, a leading study in Italian football history, said there is a clear cultural difference which means that while in Italy, fans suspect and expect some form of pressure on the ref before a ball has even been kicked, in England strange decisions are put down as barmy misjudgement.
He said: “In England there isn’t the same suspicion. It is a southern European mentality to question things in this way. Jose Mourinho (Chelsea manager) has said a few things like: ‘Isn’t it funny that this team has got a lot of penalties,’ or so on. That’s what he is used to but nobody listens to him in England.
“They think that he is just moaning and they think it is funny. But why shouldn’t there be more suspicion? Why shouldn’t we question things? Does anybody know how referees are decided for different matches? I don’t. People don’t question why Mike Reilly was in charge when Manchester United played Arsenal at the end of Arsenal’s unbeaten run.
“Maybe they should look at how refs are chosen. We can’t be all high and mighty when looking at the Italians. Look at the bung inquiries. There are lots of questions to be asked about how English football is run but the same suspicion isn’t there.”
But what of Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee who became known in every corner of the globe not only for his bald head and piercing eyes but also for, at least on the surface, being one of the world’s fairest? How can it be that the best referee has come from a country hit by such scandal.
Dr Foot explains, even Collina, a World Cup final referee, stepped down in controversial circumstances in the end.
The ref signed a sponsorship deal with car manufacturers Opel at the same time that AC Milan were sponsored by the firm, a move seen as a conflict of interests.
Dr Foot said: “Collina was the exception to the rule. He became too powerful and the big clubs couldn’t control him. He did have their respect. Now he is one of the people that picks the referees for different games.”
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