Rosetti and Italian referees - an affront to meritocracy in UEFA Refereeing

It should be said openly - the appointments that the Italian referees are getting at a UEFA level are becoming a bit ridiculous. There cannot be much doubt now - this is a systematic plan to work specifically to the advancement of match officials from Italy (nothing against them personally, of course!). The Italianisation of UEFA Refereeing that has taken place under Roberto Rosetti must stop if Nyon wants to credibly claim that they are running an operation that at least aims to work like a meritocracy and does not seriously demotivate referees from other nations.

Roberto Rosetti is Italian

But how did we get here in the first place? This article aims to answer some of those questions. 

Collective or Individual Leadership?

When Roberto Rosetti replaced Pierluigi Collina as UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer two years ago, it was clear that something of a generation change was required at the top level of European refereeing. The infancy of his tenure was characterised by a large number of courageous decisions to try and enact a much-needed generation change, which was well-deserving of praise and mostly quite effective - the most positive case being Carlos del Cerro Grande, but there were other referees who Rosetti clearly had his eyes on (Kul'bakoŭ, Grinfeld) too who have since risen to the Elite Category. 

Having been able to follow through on the appointment of Damir Skomina with the blessing of all at UEFA for the Champions League 2019 Final (as well as Slavko Vinčić's promotion), one could with some justification look at the trimming down of the Referees Committee that summer as a brave leader of refereeing who would get the needed autonomy (so long as he followed Čeferin's doctrinal FIFA-isation of UEFA Refereeing after EURO 2016 (boring tournament; it was the same corporate realisation Blatter had after World Cup 2010)). 

Unfortunately, it seems that the removal of some of the most powerful lobbyists in Nyon from the Committee itself has not had the effect we could have hoped for. In reality, it has only served to make the leader(s) of European refereeing not only less accountable but less bound to adhere towards a performance principle.

One of the best refereed football matches ever?
Mr Rosetti was surely amongst the television viewers that night

Italia!

It should be stated that it is not only Italian referees who are benefitting from beneficial treatment because of their origin (Gil Manzano, Kavanagh come to mind) and perhaps moreover that, of course, it is not only Rosetti who has done this - one referee's selection for EURO 2016 springs to mind as a case of pure politics which unfortunately will always exist in a monopolistic market such as refereeing. But none of those come that close to the pretty brazen and abashed pushing of Italian referees by an Italian. 

This also includes the high number of appointments of Video Assistant Referees which match officials with Italian origin receive. In my view, this is a partly lazy, partly self-preservational choice by the man who worked extensively with the VAR Project for AIA in Italy who wants to avoid any huge mistakes in his competition under his watch, as opposed to nepotism for nepotism's sake. Alone, that would probably be more-or-less tolerable: if anything, it is a Italo-Germanisation of UEFA VAR, rather than Italy alone, which is at least quite understandable considering they were the first two of the big five leagues to introduce Video Assistant Refereeing. But recently, there has been a more worrying development. 

The data is available in the appointments in the last couple of months on the blog, but it is clear that at the moment being Italian is a huge advantage in UEFA Refereeing. To sum it up succinctly, the Italians belonging to UEFA Second Category are receiving appointments that would be befitting of those in First, and those in UEFA First are being treated closer to UEFA Elite. Davide Massa, a good unobtrusive international referee who has thus far failed to show he has a presence / manner on an Elite level, getting the call for Chelsea - Sevilla being a perfect case in point.

It is most evident though in the treatment of Maurizio Mariani (who's progress has more-or-less been mirrored by Christopher Kavangh's from my country), recently promoted to UEFA First without an appointment either to the Europa League group stage nor even a senior international! And it seems that performances don't really matter either - the Serious Foul Play tackle he underpunished in Hungary - Russia under the eyes of Kýros Vassáras did not impede future appointments. It seems Mariani is being prepared to make a Europa League début in the same season as a Champions League début. No wonder that others in UEFA not fortunate enough to be from a particular part of the Mediterranean basin of Europe are pretty furious about it.

And a final point to consider - maybe there is a Spaniard who now thinks that whatever he did last season, it was impossible for him to officiate the Champions League Final once both Juventus and Atalanta were eliminated. Daniele Orsato justified his choice though, it must be said. 

But how did we reach this point - it is not as if Rosetti is doing this for the fun of it. It is in panic-stricken face-saving exercise who so far failed to find any referees after Orsato who are at an Elite level.

Master and apprentice?
Italian referees on top of the world

AIA - In Crisis?

In addition to producing serving UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer Roberto Rosetti, one of the best football referees ever, the Associazione Italiana Arbitri gave us probably the two most popular referees of all time - Pierluigi Collina and Nicola Rizzoli, who both refereed FIFA's World Cup Final and were praised by journalists and fans alike for their way of handling games. Furthermore, half of the last four UEFA Club Competition Finals (not including Super Cup) were refereed by an Italian. So, it seems odd to state that AIA are in something of a crisis on many levels, but that does stand to reason.

After Orsato's retirement, Italy would be left with no referees in UEFA's Elite Category (when Orsato was promoted, he was one of four Italians at the highest echelon of European refereeing) - that would be highly embarrassing for a nation who prides itself on being one sporting top class, fiercely independent referees. It should be said openly - none of the three Italian referees in UEFA First Category appear to (me to) have the competencies to rise to an Elite level, if anything, those ranked lower seem to be the ones who have more ability on the pitch.

Associations should be rewarded for developing top class referees with top class appointments, and the reverse is true as well. Sandro Schärer from Switzerland deservedly became the first referee from his country with a proud tradition not only in refereeing to whistle a Champions League match (not qualifiers) in three-thousand five-hundred and fourteen days; in truth Italy should suffer in a comparable way if they failed to nurture a real top class referee, but it seems Roberto Rosetti is doing everything he can to avoid that humiliation for his associates.

A perhaps darker element is also at work here - the Claudio Gavillucci affaire exposed hugely undemocratic practises of the Associazione Italiana Arbitri. Many of the revelations that came to light during the trial were not very helpful for AIA, to put it kindly. Now other officials removed by AIA, including Champions League Final assistant referee Lorenzo Manganelli, are also taking their case to court regarding technical decisions. If AIA were to be seen failing on an international level too, that would be hugely problematic for a number of very powerful people in Italian refereeing. So perhaps to see Rosetti's appointments for Italians as simple nepotism or even just face-saving which we have seen many times (and many times again), is perhaps to miss the point a bit. 

AIA President Marcelo Nicchi with Rosetti, Collina and Rizzoli

To clarify, of course this is nothing against the Italian referees who of course enter the field of play simply trying to do the best job they can. Rosetti is not the only 'powerful' person in UEFA (Refereeing) - such an overt attempt to appoint referee from his country on a higher level than their competancies and performances would merit should not be allowed to happen. It is not the fault of the referees from other countries, especially ones without a real lobby behind them in Nyon, who have to work twice as hard anyway to go far internationally, to be put at a further disadvantage because of this unscrupulous plan.

Mr. Rosetti, please stop your policy of disregarding the performance principle in so order to push referees from Italy; it is an affront to meritocracy in the UEFA Refereeing that you lead.