“Too many refereeing errors, obvious prejudice”, Lazio protests with the Serie A League

In its official letter, Lazio reiterated “its respect for the referee’s role”, underlining however “the need to accompany the current phase of generational renewal of the referee classenhancing its training and growth”. President Lotito’s club recalled that Lazio “is a listed company, subject to stringent obligations of transparency, management correctness and protection of value towards the market and its shareholders, to which the Club is also called to respond in relation to events and decisions that directly impact sporting, economic and financial results”.

“That institutional spirit belongs to us and we confirm it. Precisely because we have chosen, up to this point, the line of respect and comparison, we are nevertheless forced today to say it with the utmost clarity: that is no longer tolerableduring this championship, we continue to witness the recurrence of refereeing episodes and inconsistent VAR assessmentsheterogeneous and decisive, which are producing a evident sporting prejudice to the detriment of SS Lazioat the same time undermining the credibility of the entire system and generating significant economic damage.”

“This is not a single, physiological error in sport,” we read letter viewed by Adnkronos“it is a sequence of episodes which, due to frequency, nature and impact, can no longer be archived as randomness. The perception – now widespread and documentable – is that of anon-uniform application of the criteria, with serious consequences on: – the regularity and competitive parity of the Championship; – the achievement of sporting objectives and the consequent economic consequences; – the relationship of trust between institutions and the public; the protection of an entire fan base, the beating heart of the entire system, which legitimately demands fairness and clarity, which are the basis of the credibility of this sport”.

“Generational renewal cannot become an alibi. If the system chooses a transition phase, it must equip itself with tools, protocols and levels of control that prevent the ‘transition’ from turning into a reduction in guarantees. VAR, created to limit decisive errors, cannot be perceived as a factor of further confusion or discretion”.

Then the direct request to the League: “For these reasons, the SS Lazio makes a formal and urgent request for intervention to the Serie A Football Leagueso that, within its own competences and in conjunction with the FIGC and the competent technical bodies, immediate, concrete and verifiable initiatives are taken, and in particular: 1. Urgent convening of a institutional table promoted by the Lega Serie A, with the involvement of the FIGC and the competent referees, aimed at an operational comparison on the application criteria and critical issues encountered. 2. Formal written feedbackwithin the limits permitted by the regulations, on the most relevant episodes involving the SS Lazio this season: not comments, but a clear reconstruction of the criteria adopted and the technical evaluations”.

The list continues: “3. Immediate uniformity of addressthrough the definition and dissemination of binding and coherent operational guidelines on key cases (penalties, handballs, offside, violent conduct and serious fouls), with unambiguous VAR intervention thresholds. 4. Structured transparency measurescompatibly with current regulations, aimed at reducing the information gap that fuels tensions and delegitimization: when a decision affects the result, a clear and timely institutional explanation cannot be missing. 5. Assumption of responsibility and quality controlso that repeated and macroscopic errors produce technical consequences in the evaluation, training and designation processes. In the absence of this, any reference to ‘growth’ risks remaining a formula devoid of content.”

“SS Lazio does not intend to fuel controversy or delegitimize the match officials. However, the silence is no longer a tenable position when the repetition of such episodes is damaging the Clubcompetition and public trust. In the absence of timely feedback and concrete initiatives, SS Lazio reserves the right to appeal to any competent institutional body and to undertake any initiative permitted to protect its rights, the economic damage suffered also in consideration of the status of a listed club, sporting regularity and the respect due to its fans”, concludes the Biancoceleste club, “we remain available to transmit a detailed dossier of the incidents being reported, complete with documentation and technical references, as well as an immediate meeting”.