It was the most sensational event of the last Olympic Games, those in Paris. And the Settebello Azzurri put it into practice around the world after suffering a mammoth (and certified) refereeing error in the deciding quarter-final against Hungary.
Thus, the Italian men's team was disqualified for six months for violation of article 5 of the World Aquatic Integrity Code. The Azzurri, eliminated, had appealed (later rejected) against the refereeing management and before the match against Spain, at the time of the match. anthems, the whole team turned their backs on the referees. The six-month suspension also includes exclusion from the next World Cup as well as a $100,000 fine. The Federnuoto will not appeal.
However, the serious error made by the referees and VAR during the August 7 match was certified and effectively took Settebello out of the medal zone. The appeals launched by Federnuoto in the 36 hours following the match, although rejected, had in fact led to the admission by the competent authorities of World Aquatics of the lack of violence and intentionality of Francesco Condemi's action, therefore legal. In fact, the player was not disqualified from the subsequent matches, i.e. the semi-finals and the fifth/seventh place finals. Thus, the 3-3 scored by the Settebello striker against Hungary was valid; Condemi should not have been sent off, Italy should not have played 4 minutes less, the Hungarians should not have benefited from the 4-2 penalty.”
“We hope – they say from Le Fin – that in the future the jury will have technical tools of a high professional level, in order to avoid the possibility of repeating errors as sensational as they are harmful to the image of water polo” .
