No more territorial prohibition, Rome referee duties – News

A small step for Daniele Doveri, a giant leap for the Italian referees. In his small way, the designation of the Rome 1 section referee to direct the Giallorossi match in Verona on Saturday evening is a historic date for Italian whistle-blowers. Because he definitively breaks down the wall of the territorial bond, that rule according to which a referee, however good, however important, could not direct the team of the city where he lives and works.
Instead Doveri, born in Volterra but raised professionally in the capital, in the section that revolves around West Rome, near Piazza San Pietro, was chosen without taking into account geographical criteria. And it is only the first of a series of choices, which the designator Gianluca Rocchi had announced last season, after some timid signals in this sense by the then Aia president, Nicchi. The rule itself was canceled a few years ago, but the unwritten rule remained. Already last year the signals (Sozza di Seregno to manage Inter), and on this second day there is also Marinelli, from Tivoli, designated for Lazio-Genoa. “I’d be happy to referee Rome and Lazio, it would be a nice cultural leap”, commented Doveri himself a few days ago, from his retirement in Narni, interviewed by Sky and evidently warned that sooner or later it would happen. Of course, Mourinho’s Roma, with all its tensions, may not seem like the softest choice.
But the technical referee bodies have the utmost confidence in Doveri, who has been international for several years and is currently considered among the top 3 in Serie A.
The geographical constraint has never concerned the city of origin of the referees but their section to which they belong and therefore the place where they live: the purpose is clear, to avoid dangerous crossings with fellow citizens’ fans. Today the terrain of possible protests, more than the street, is the social arena, and in any case Rocchi and with him all the referees wanted to give a “cultural” signal. Gone are the times, in short, when a Venetian Paolo Casarin transplanted to Milan could not set foot in a black jacket at the San Siro. Actually no: up to now he had been the golden exception. In March 1977, he directed an Inter-Milan that finished 0-0 and went down in history as the last derby in which Rivera and Mazzola met. “When they called me to tell me the designation, I thought it was a mistake – the former international said some time ago – Then I went to the stadium by car, and hid it to avoid any ire from the fans as I did at my very first matches…”. Other times. At least so hopefully.

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2023-08-23 14:11:43
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