Piero Ceccarini

Last updated
Piero Ceccarini
Born (1953-10-20) 20 October 1953 (age 71)
Livorno, Italy
Other occupation Financial adviser
Domestic
YearsLeagueRole
1989–1999 Serie A Referee
International
YearsLeagueRole
1992–1999 FIFA-listed Referee

Piero Ceccarini (born 20 October 1953) is an Italian former football referee. He is mostly known for a controversial decision he made during a match in Turin between Juventus and Inter on 26 April 1998.

Contents

Ceccarini is known to have worked as a FIFA referee during the period from 1993 [1] to 1998. [2] He officiated in qualifiers for Euro 1996, [3] Euro 2000, [2] and the 1998 World Cup. [4]

Career

Ceccarini was born in Livorno.

During the 1997–98 Serie A season, Ceccarini was at the centre of a controversial decision in Juventus's Derby d'Italia match in Turin against Inter on 26 April 1998: [5] a collision that occurred between Inter striker Ronaldo and Juventus defender Mark Iuliano in the Juventus penalty area, which saw both players go to ground, led the Inter players to claim what they felt to be a clear penalty for a tackle of obstruction, but Ceccarini let the play continue as the players continued to protest; to add to the controversy, Juventus were awarded a contested penalty only thirty seconds later. [6] [7] Although Juventus did not convert the penalty successfully, they still ended up winning the match 1–0, [6] and went on to win the league title mathematically two days later, following a 3–2 home win against Bologna, with Inter finishing in second place. [8] Following the match Ceccarini came out publicly and stated that he had made a mistake, and that he should have called the foul and assigned a penalty to Inter for the challenge, although that, at the time, he did not witness the entire play that led to the incident, only the collision between the two players, which drew further criticism from the press. [9] Up to this day, the incident has therefore acquired a degree of infamy, and is still widely debated in the Italian media, and often cited in newspapers. When asked about the episode in a 2009 interview, however, Ceccarini changed his view and said that in hindsight he would have not awarded a penalty, but instead an indirect free kick to Inter inside the penalty area for obstruction. [6] In an even more recent interview with the newspaper Il Tirreno in 2016, however, Ceccarini later further clarified, "From the images it is clear that Ronaldo runs into Iuliano, not vice versa: as a matter of fact, the Juventus player falls backwards, resulting from the impact of Ronaldo running into him. I was on the pitch, a few meters away. The intention of the defender was to stop the attacker's progression, but the attacker moved the ball and the defender did not follow it. Iuliano was stationary at the moment of contact, there are no doubts about this. I told Pagliuca [Inter's goalkeeper] that in basketball this would be an offensive foul. Perhaps I ought to have blown a foul in favour of Juventus". [10]

In 1996 he refereed one match in the 1996 UEFA European Football Championship in England. [11]

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Sports proceedings began soon after Calciopoli, an association football scandal, was made public in May 2006. In July 2006, the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) Federal Court of Justice started the sports trial. Juventus was relegated to Serie B with points-deduction, while other clubs only received points deductions. Most of implicated club's presidents and executives, as well as referees, referee designators, referee assistants, and FIGC higher-ups were initially proposed to be banned for life but only Juventus CEO Antonio Giraudo and Juventus general director Luciano Moggi were confirmed to be banned for life. Two criminal trials took place in Naples, the first related to Calciopoli proper, while the second involved consultancy company GEA World, which was alleged to hold power over all transfers and Italian football players and agents; all defendants were acquitted of the stronger charges. The Naples trial resulted in Calciopoli bis, which implicated almost every Serie A club, including Inter Milan, to which it was awarded the 2006 scudetto. Moggi's legal defence attempted to present those new developments at the Naples court but they were refused because the court ruled that it was there to determinate whether Moggi's lifetime ban should be confirmed and the gravity of his actions, as was sentenced in the controversial 2006 sports trial.

References

  1. ↑ Bobrowsky, Josef. "USA Cup 1993". RSSSF, December 15, 1999. Retrieved on May 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 UEFA. "Russia 2-3 France". October 10, 1998. Retrieved on May 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ UEFA. "Sweden 0-0 Switzerland". September 6, 1995. Retrieved on May 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ FIFA. "Match Report - Croatia - Denmark 1:1 (0:0)". March 29, 1997. Retrieved on May 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ FRANCESCO SAVERIO INTORCIA (30 January 2015). "Mark Iuliano: "Sono immortale grazie a Ronaldo, pago il mio debito salvando il Latina"" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 ""Nel 1998 su Ronaldo era fallo"" (in Italian). sportmediaset.mediaset.it. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Luca Caioli (24 January 2005). "Fallo su Ronaldo: Iuliano espulso al debutto" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. p. 41. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Giancarlo Padovan; Stefano Agresti (11 May 1998). "Super Pippo si fa in tre per lo scudetto" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera . Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ceccarini: "Su Ronaldo ho sbagliato"" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 2 August 1998. p. 29. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012.
  10. ↑ GIANNI TACCHI (2 March 2016). "L'arbitro Ceccarini su Juve-Inter del '98: "Su Ronaldo non era rigore: cari interisti io non mi pento"" (in Italian). Il Tirreno-Edizione Livorno.
  11. ↑ Naskrent, Gwidon S. "EURO 1996 finals". RSSSF , 7 December 2001. Retrieved on 15 May 2013.
Preceded by UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final Referees
Final 1995
Flag of Italy.svg Piero Ceccarini		Succeeded by
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