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The referee Federico La Penna has received dozens of death threats after wrongly sending off a Juventus player at Inter on Saturday. Italian police have reportedly advised him not to leave his home.
La Penna sparked fury among Juventus supporters after dismissing Pierre Kalulu, showing the defender a second yellow card for a challenge on Alessandro Bastoni. Replays showed Bastoni had clearly simulated the fall. Juventus officials and fans argued that the decision heavily influenced the game, which Inter won 3-2, despite the Bianconeri having fought back to level the score with 10 men.
After the match, La Penna was subjected to a barrage of abuse on social media, including dozens of death threats – some directed at his family – with users posting messages such as: “I’ll shoot you;” “I’ll kill you;” and: “We’re coming to get you, we know where you live.” The referee has filed a formal complaint over the online attacks and, according to several Italian outlets including La Repubblica and SportMediaset, police have advised him to remain at home for the time being.
According to sources within the Italian referees’ association (AIA), La Penna could face a one-month suspension. Reports from figures close to the AIA suggest he is poised to be stood down after what Serie A’s chief refereeing officer, Gianluca Rocchi, described as “a clearly wrong decision”.
Juventus players appealed desperately for a video assistant referee intervention, but officials are not permitted to review second yellow cards. Bastoni, already on a booking, should have received a second yellow card for simulation.
“La Penna is mortified and we stand by him, but I have to tell you the truth: he wasn’t the only one who made a mistake,” Rocchi said via the AIA. “Yesterday there was a clear simulation – the latest in a long series in a league where they try in every possible way to deceive us.”
Bastoni, too, was subjected to abuse online, prompting the defender and his wife to disable comments on his social media accounts. He had celebrated after Kalulu’s dismissal, a gesture some supporters deemed unsporting, leading to calls for him to be dropped from the Italy squad.
“You can’t talk about football today,” said the former Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini, Juventus’s director of football strategy. “Something unacceptable happened.”
At half-time the club’s chief executive, Damien Comolli, had to be physically restrained from confronting La Penna. The Juventus manager, Luciano Spalletti, was also seen remonstrating with the referee as the teams headed down the tunnel, though he appeared to recognise the situation was spiralling when Comolli arrived, turning to push him away.
“Juventus lost three points, but Italian football lost much more,” Comolli said.
Comolli and Chiellini risk disciplinary sanctions.
Piotr Zielinski scored Inter’s winner from the edge of the area in the 90th minute, seven minutes after Manuel Locatelli had equalised.
