Roma manager José Mourinho and general manager Tiago Pinto called for change this evening after the Giallorossi were subjected to another myriad of refereeing mistakes in their defeat to Fiorentina.
The duo were furious in the post match at VAR designator Luca Banti, who incorrectly awarded a penalty against Roma just three minutes into the match.
“We knew tonight would be tough, we were completely drained emotionally and physically from Thursday,” Mourinho told DAZN.
“Coming here and having a penalty incorrectly awarded against you makes it too tough on a team that was trying to stabilise the match by staying compact.”
“However, Mr. Banti from Livorno had other ideas. I compliment Fiorentina on the win, they played well even after that gift in the first few minutes. I thought Guida did well, however, Banti did as he’s done many other times.”
As for his compatriot, Pinto was much less restrained in is assessment of the refereeing situation.
“I don’t like being here discussing this but everyone has an obligation to improve in their line of work,” he told the media in a post match press conference.
“There’s only two games remaining, we’re fighting for Europe and unfortunately still nobody understands these decisions being made by referees.”
He added, “There’s at least one situation every single week. I don’t want to point the finger, everyone makes mistakes, but it’s the end of the season and we’re absolutely tired of this.”
“It’s easy to say ‘Oh, Roma always complains about the referee’, and I’m sorry to come here and be talking like this, but how is it there’s still no clarity on the VAR protocol after 36 match days? This can’t be possible.”
“We need everyone to take responsibility once the season is over. Tonight was a decisive match for Europe but it was ruined after four minutes by a clear error.”
“It’s always best to work on finding resolutions for problems and, at this point, I’m completely tired of it this season.”
