The Italian referee, Juan Luca Sacchi, is facing a one-match suspension for a bizarre incident involving her assistant referee, Francesca Di Monte. The incident occurred in the stadium tunnel before a Serie A match between Sassuolo and Lecce.
In the tunnel before the match. Sacchi walked to the head of the tunnel to walk out with the players at Stadio Via del Mare. He reached the start of the tunnel and turned to the right to shake the hand of Sassuolo captain Gian Marco Ferrari. He then turned to his left to shake the hand of Lecce captain Gabriel Strefezza.
serie a too soft.. pgmol would let this slide btw
— ඞ (@uzerszn) October 9, 2023
However, Sacchi was taken aback by his assistant referee, Francesca Di Monte, who already had his hand out for Sachhi. He ignored the hand of Monte and moved towards Lecce’s Strefezza, who was standing behind Monte. Monte reached out with a raised eyebrow and shook her head before moving out of the tunnel for the match.
This clearly wasn’t on purpose
— Nerd 🤓 (@Dnerdboii) October 10, 2023
Comments like “This clearly wasn’t on purpose, “Serie A too soft..PGMOL would let this slide btw,” “He got confused,” and “Imagine getting suspended for not shaking someone’s hand,” echoed the frustration of the fans online.
The video went viral on social media, drawing more than 11 million views on X. The fans were shocked by the suspension, as a majority of the fan base ruled this out as a minor incident that didn’t require any suspension from the governing bodies.
Statement from the Italian Referees Association on Juan Luca Sacchi
As per the reports in Italy, referee designator Gianluca Rocchi was furious with the video that went viral on social media; he later scolded Sacchi in private for the incident. The Italian Referees Association (AIA) is furious and embarrassed by the incident and will be suspending Sachhi for at least one match day in Serie A.
AIA has expressed that the incident isn’t representative of any internal s*xism within the organization. They released a statement through ANSA: “We can absolutely exclude that this was a s*xist gesture or a personal snub. As far as we are concerned, it is not a problem, it was only an involuntary gesture that was misinterpreted. The two colleagues worked well during the match and their performance was excellent“.
Serie A Referee-Designator Gianluca Rocchi: “Juan Luca Sacchi Made Error In Inter Milan Vs Monza, But Won’t Suspend Anyone As Everyone Makes Mistakes” #InterMilan #FCIM https://t.co/hdGm477VsX
— SempreInter.com (@SempreIntercom) January 11, 2023
Sacchi has been a veteran in his position. He has been officiating since 2015. He had officiated 42 matches before this incident. However, this isn’t the first controversy involving the Italian official. He grabbed headlines back in January in a match between Inter Milan and Monza.
He wrongly blew the whistle for a foul and disallowed a goal by Inter Milan. At that moment, Milan was leading 2-1 and could have secured the victory with that goal; however, Monza came back to snatch a famous 2-2 draw. In this Serie A match, Lecce and Sassuolo played out a 1-1 draw after the incident in the tunnel.