Marco Di Bello could face a month-long suspension over his controversial refereeing in the Lazio-Milan match. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the decision has already been made. But for the Brindisi referee, this season too, it is not the first time.
Handle Referee Marco Di Bello shows the red card to Luca Pellegrini of Lazio during the Serie A soccer match between SS Lazio and AC Milan at the Olympic stadium in Rome, March 1, 2024.
Three red cards, recriminations and a lot of anger against Lazio after the poisonous defeat against Milan. And a high-tension post-match.
Lotito: “When the game acquires these characteristics, other external organizations must intervene”
The same president Claudio Lotito shows bitterness by announcing the desire to take concrete measures to protect your team. “When the game acquires these characteristics, other external agencies must intervene. System reliability is lacking and that is why we have to resort to third-party institutions to put an end to an unfortunate situation,” the Lazio boss told Dazn.
An accusation against the referees and the management of Di Bello which aroused the anger of the public Biancocelesti with the expulsion of Pellegrini it's a criterion considered partial: “In sport you have to win through merit. There is a limit beyond which you should not go, and today all the limits have been exceeded – says Lotito – The team will assert itself in the appropriate forums, for everything that happened. This thing has been happening for a while.”
The president guarantees that he did not say a word to Di Bello (“I do not speak to the referees, I am not used to having any relationship with them”), but without entering “into the merits of the episodes”, for Lotito, the one who arbitrates “must be able to understand what is the balance and the breaking point. I am moderate and I am looking for a meeting point, and today there is no conditions for finding it.
Sarri remains steadfast on the Lazio bench, taking no responsibility for tonight's chaos: “With him there is no conflict, but rather dialectical confrontations aimed at dividing. Nobody put him back in question. The team has no responsibility for this defeat.” Lotito doesn't think there will be “any response” from institutions, but he says he knows where to turn: “Let's think about the future and hope that episodes like this won't happen again.” .
The “bitter” post on Luca Pellegrini’s social networks
“Excuse me, you ask? But can we talk here? No, because you couldn't enter the field, there was a police officer who stopped you.” As Ciro Immobilethe Lazio striker, responded to his teammate's message on Instagram, Luca Pellegrini, who apologized for his expulsion yesterday at the Olimpico against Milan in the match that Lazio finished at 8, due to the three expulsions suffered by Marusic, Guendouzi and, of course, Pellegrini. The reference to referee Di Bello is clear.
The anger of the fans
A controversy broke out on social networks from Lazio fans. Fans are calling for it to be stopped. “Milan, as in the first leg, should not have finished the match with 11 men. If you stopped Maresca one day, Di Bello should never referee again, not just Lazio, never again,” tweeted a supporter. “Excellent international publicity for this Serie A. We do not clearly know who this evening between Lazio, Milan and the referee did the worst,” adds another Biancoceleste supporter.
