Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti went on a prolonged rant demanding referees be made skilled, which culminated in him kissing the interviewer to show some extent. ‘Contact will not be influence.’
The Bianconeri boss was fired up after the , which noticed his workforce combat again from 2-0 down with Pedro and Gustav Isaksen objectives, to equalise via Weston McKennie and Pierre Kalulu headers.
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There was some controversy when Teun Koopmeiners had a aim disallowed for Khephren Thuram’s offside place at 0-0, however there was additionally a possible Mario Gila foul on Juan Cabal within the build-up to that effort, which DAZN Italia refereeing analyst Luca Marelli mentioned ought to’ve been a penalty.
This sparked a prolonged Spalletti rant that spiralled considerably uncontrolled.
Spalletti needs reform for referees
BERGAMO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 05: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Juventus, seems on previous to the Coppa Italia Quarter-Remaining match between Atalanta BC and Juventus FC on the New Steadiness Area on February 05, 2026 in Bergamo, Italy. (Picture by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
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“The referee can interpret it the way in which he needs, as a result of the defender is imprudent when going into that sliding sort out, so he takes a danger. I’m not right here to say if it’s a penalty or not. He might’ve run again onto the ball, however I’d take a wider view,”
“Everybody now goes to protest in regards to the guidelines, however there’s all the time an interpretation. The strain of a step on foot, handball that no person sees within the stadium however they zoom in with the digicam, it’s all open to interpretation. You can not generalise that each contact is a penalty.”
He turned again to an incident in when a penalty was awarded for handball that even Ederson making the cross hadn’t observed.
PARMA, ITALY – FEBRUARY 01: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Juventus, seems on previous to the Serie A match between Parma Calcio 1913 and Juventus FC at Stadio Ennio Tardini on February 01, 2026 in Parma, Italy. (Picture by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Photographs)
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“I by no means talked about referees when selections went towards me or in favour. Within the sport towards Atalanta the VAR referred to as the referee to view the handball a minute and a half later, when no person together with Raffaele Palladino who was proper subsequent to me on the touchline, had any thought what this was even for.
“The principles are too inflexible proper now, it’s the rigidity that I discover to be the issue. If no person even realises it hit a hand, who is broken by that? The analysts preserve saying ‘there was contact,’ however that doesn’t imply something, does it? Might I kiss you, right here, that is contact,” when giving the feminine interviewer a peck on the cheek.
“It’s about context, contact will not be the identical factor as influence. There’ll all the time be problem if there are guidelines the place each contact of the hand is a penalty, each step on foot is a penalty. That is what VAR is for, you’ll be able to consider the context in its totality.
“If we persist with the foundations, then that’s positively a penalty, as a result of Gila goes right into a sliding sort out and takes duty for that gesture when he doesn’t get the ball.”
CAGLIARI, ITALY – JANUARY 17: Luciano Spalletti coach of Juventus reacts throughout the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus FC at Stadio Sant’Elia on January 17, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Picture by Enrico Locci/Getty Photographs)
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Spalletti believes he has the answer to assist referees deal with the job at hand, which is to make it a job.
“The referee is the one one out of 23 on the pitch who will not be an expert. That needs to be modified, for my part, as they’re too necessary for the game.
“When he will get residence at night time, he has to consider different issues, whether or not or to not preserve doing this, balancing his different work. That’s not proper when you think about how necessary referees are on this sport. I’m assured about this, he needs to be skilled.”