How bad it must have been...Italy sentences maximum in prison for beating referee
Jun 22, 2025
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On the 20th, the Italian government revised the criminal law to protect judges the same as police officers and public officials. If a referee is pushed, threatened, or assaulted during the game, a prison sentence is possible. Andrea Ostelari, Italy's deputy justice minister, said "Sports have a spirit of respect and consideration. I warn those who do not accept this. Violent behavior against a referee will be punished immediately and sentenced to up to prisonthreaten "
The move is the result of negotiations between the Italian government and the Football Judgment Association (ISRA). The problem was that referees were not respected and were even suffering from various threats in Italy's Serie A. In the meantime, 19-year-old young referee Diego Alfonzetti was attacked during a youth team match in Sicily last year. Serie A referees expressed concern about the growing threat as they demonstrated a black stain on their cheeks during the game. The ISRA asked the government to come up with an alternative to personal threats.
A referee who cannot side with anyone is the loneliest on the ground. Whistles for 90 minutes in tension with fans as well as the teams of both teams. The decision itself is bound to be disadvantageous to one side, so it has to endure protests and criticism. With the application of VAR and semi-automatic offside technology, the controversy over fairness is better than before, but it is true that distrust toward the judges rarely disappears. It's not difficult to find a part where you can get various threats after the game. Therefore, associations in each country are implementing various policies to protect judges.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
