Udinese president Gianpaolo Pozzo spoke about his frustration with referee Paolo Valeri and his penalty decision he made in the controversial 2-1 loss at Milan on Sunday night.
The official awarded the Rossoneri an injury-time penalty, when Stephan El Shaarawy was brought down by Thomas Heurtaux in the 18-yard-box.
President Pozzo spoke out on the clubs official website stating that ref Paolo Valeri is not suitable for the Serie A “We are unlucky, Another referee had been initially designated for this match…
“He is one of the two or three referees who are technically unsuitable for refereein,” Pozzo told the press. “I’ve said so before – Valeri lacks the balance to referee in Serie A.
“It’s always a lottery with him, and in that lottery we are always the losers. I still recall the incidents with Parma, Milan and the first match against Juventus.
“It was a disaster, he has no balance for fundamental decisions.
“He has given another gift to the opposing team, crucial to the outcome of the match.
“If the refereeing committee excluded this kind of official then the system would benefit our referees who, with the exception of some, are the best in the world.”
Paolo Valeri wasn’t marked down to referee the match between Milan and Udinese on Sunday, but was put in the Officials line-up due to an injury that occurred on the initial referee and Valeri was brought in.
This is a double-edged sword. Valeri didn’t call an obvious penalty call earlier in the second half where Domizzi brought down Balotelli. It’s only bad on Valeri for picking the wrong one. Besides, the Udine head seemed to suggest some sort of match fixing, which I doubt is the case. He suggested later that he simply gets calls wrong, and I believe that’s the case. Being “bribed” and simply being poor at refereeing are 2 different things.