Marotta hints at Napoli bias from ref
Juventus general manager was critical of the referee as his side were held to a 1-1 draw against Genoa and hinted at bias in favour of nearest challengers Napoli.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
The match had a hugely controversial moment in injury time as Andreas Granqvist appeared to have committed a handball after a clearance inadvertently hit him on the arm inside the box.
The ref did not give a penalty, drawing consternation and anger from the Juve bench after the game as the game finished in a draw. THe result meant that Juve were forced to drop points over the weekend and could see Napoli close in to within three points if the Neapolitans register a win against Parma.
Marotta was furious and did not mince his words when speaking to the club website.
"The referee Guida is from Naples, so perhaps that is why he felt he was in a difficult position. He is a young official, so it's normal to be under pressure in certain situations."
"If referees are not assigned to clubs from their own region, there must be a reason.
"Assigning such a young official to this game made it difficult for him. Imagine if a referee from Turin had gone to officiate Napoli."
The 57-year-old was also unhappy that the referee did not seek guidance from the other officials on the pitch.
"There are six officials around the pitch, but no synchronicity between them," continued Marotta.
"This is a period in which different situations have been occurring, but the fact remains the goal line referee was not listened to.
"You can't go in with your arms raised and then be given the benefit of the doubt because of your mistake."
Marotta's sentiments were echoed by Juve coach Antonio Conte who was equally vehement in his assessment of the referee's performance.
Conte went as far as suggesting that the referee should be told to surrender his Serie A officiating licence.
"He said he ‘didn't feel ready' to give the penalty. That's not normal. I cannot tolerate this," criticised Conte on Sky Sport Italia.
"I think they went over the line today.
"I accept it if they admit they didn't see the incident, but hearing a referee say ‘I didn't feel ready' to give the penalty is not normal. This is not football. I think in these cases saying ‘shame on you' is the very least one can do.
"I would've accepted it if he hadn't seen it, but the goal line referee said it was a penalty. The arm must be close to the torso, the rules are clear. In these cases, you've got to give up your refereeing licence.
"Clearly tomorrow I will tell my lads about the positive and negative aspects of the evening, but I cannot tolerate what happened."
Juve also confirmed on Saturday that they were close to signing nomadic striker Nicolas Anelka on a six-month deal.