Napoli’s Aurelio de Laurentiis slams refereeing after Supercoppa Italiana final loss | OneFootball

Serie A giants Napoli and Inter went head to head in the Supercoppa Italiana final yesterday and the Nerazzurri emerged as winners, but Partenopei CEO Aurelio de Laurentiis wasn’t too happy.

Giovanni Simeone was sent off in the second half for Napoli, leaving the side down to ten men. After a valiant effort, Napoli conceded a 92nd minute goal and Inter won their third consecutive Supercoppa Italiana title, and the second consecutive one under Simone Inzaghi.

De Laurentiis was fuming at officiating during the game and also criticised the tournament, stating that it impacts the Serie A and it can be avoided.

He told Sportmediaset (via CM): “I feel sorry for Rocchi, he is living a kind of nightmare. I don’t feel like documenting what may be the fans’ thoughts. The fan is always a fan, when I turn into a fan I can go down hard, but I don’t think there’s any need. The weakness of the referees this year, not only against Napoli, speaks for itself. I feel sorry for Rocchi.”

The club CEO later stated that the Serie A isn’t operating Italian football properly, stating that it isn’t operating for the best interest for the country’s game, while also criticising the refereeing – again.

“We are in Arabia, we had to promote ourselves through spectacular football. If you reduce me to ten, football is no longer spectacular. Then maybe I’m wrong in not making the substitutions in time, but there is another problem. The League doesn’t work in Italy. They changed the rules on warnings and expulsions, we pay for them in the league. This Super Cup which counts for very little ends up influencing the championship . The League that defends football companies is the enemy of the companies themselves”.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN