Football, Casarin: ‘I’d kick the referees in the a… their penalties are laughable’

Rome, 30 October (LaPresse) – ‘Penalties should not be allowed in competitions. It is not possible that the final of a World Cup should be decided by a penalty. In football, penalties have always been given for clear, obvious and deliberate offences, i.e. something that could not be changed on the basis of the rules’. These are the words of former referee Paolo Casarin, interviewed on CRC, Napoli’s radio partner. “From 1950 to 1990, referees awarded the same number of penalties in a league with the same degree and type, i.e. 0.25 per cent. We were all the same, we awarded one penalty every four games. I still love referees, but sometimes I’d like to kick them in the a… We’ve gone from 120 to 187 penalties awarded in a season in just a few years. Some penalties are laughable. They’re gifts,‘ he added. ’Referees believe they have reached the peak of their abilities in a short time, but refereeing is difficult. The speed of the game has increased today compared to a few years ago, so you still have to work hard. Referees don’t easily reach the peak of their abilities unless they work continuously without colliding with others and without being different,” he stressed.