Italian referee Juan Luca Sacchi faces a one-match ban for failing to shake his opponent’s hand. assistant referee Francesca Di Montein the dressing room tunnel in front of Lecce-Sassuolo, an image that caused controversy in Italy, despite explanations from the participants and the Referees’ Association, which denied any sexist behavior.
Just before the start of the Lecce-Sassuolo match this Friday, in the dressing room tunnel. Juan Luca Sacchi He shook hands with the Sassuolo captain and when he went to give it to the Lecce captain, he made a mistake and found himself face to face with his teammate Di Monte, who extended his hand to him.
The head referee returned the greeting to the local team captain, leaving his teammate frozen, who smiled slightly, surprised, given the awkwardness of the moment.
From now on they set fire to the nets with images and criticism of Sacchi, which Di Monte herself tried to stop.
“On the eve of the game, in the tunnel, the judge greets the captains and we have a moment of welcome on the pitch before the whistle blows,” Di Monte explained to ANSA on Sunday.
SHAME👎🏼!
🫱🏼🫲🏽Referee Juan Luca Sacchi refused to shake hands with his assistant Francesca Di Monte in the preview of the Lecce – Sassuolo match.
📌He will be punished with one match. pic.twitter.com/dou9SmqX1Y
— Side B in football (@lacarabdeporte) October 8, 2023
“My face looks shocked and embarrassed simply because I was caught off guard. I regret that the short video is used to address very difficult topics that require a different approach. I respect and delicacy. I care very deeply about the issue of disrespect and violence towards women, but this is not the case,” he added.
“It’s incredible how this incident arose from this episode. Neither she nor I could imagine such a reaction. Refusal to greet a colleague “This is a gesture that does not suit me at all,” Sacchi told the same Italian agency.
Moreover, the Italian Association of Judges (AIA) itself denies any manifestations of sexist behavior.
“We must absolutely exclude sexist gesture– sources from the Italian judging panel told ANSA, – and obviously this is also a personal insult. “For us there is no problem, it was just an involuntary and misinterpreted gesture.”
“Both showed great chemistry on the field and their performance was superb. It is quite surprising that we are talking about sexism within an association that has made overcoming all gender barriers one of its main achievements,” the AIA said.
However, despite the refusal of the three parties involved, this Monday several Italian media outlets are speculating that the AIA, in addition to reprimanding them for not paying attention to this kind of detail, will leave the referee in the refrigerator for a day for the match. controversy is being generated, although nothing is official at the moment and there will be no games this weekend due to the international break.
EFE
Source: Aristegui Noticias

I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.