Italian press berates Di Bello for failing to send off Empoli striker following heabutt on Gatti

Club News

September 15, 2024 - 1:00 pm

Match official Marco Di Bello was criticized for his performance on Saturday evening, especially for his handling of the incident between Empoli striker Pietro Pellegri and Juventus defender Federico Gatti.

The encounter took place at the Carlo Castellani Stadium in Tuscany, and it ended in a goalless draw with few chances between the sides.

Thiago Motta’s men were hardly inspiring this weekend, but Gatti still earned the plaudits for a brave display at the back.

The Juventus captain pulled off several key interventions, including one that earned him a headbutt from Pellegri who momentarily lost his temper.

But while the Bianconeri faithful expected nothing less than a straight red card, Di Bello sufficed with a yellow card.

According to JuventusNews24, the Italian sports newspaper chastised the 43-year-old for his display on Saturday.

The Italian press insists that Di Bello should have sent off Pellegri immediately. However, the VAR wasn’t able to intervene, because the incident wasn’t extremely violent.

But as the source notes, had the match official given the Empoli man his marching orders, the VAR certainly wasn’t going to ask him to review the call.

Juventus fans will remember how Arkadiusz Milik was sent off the last time they played Empoli, arguably for a lesser infringement.

The newspapers also believe Gleison Bremer’s yellow card was unwarranted as the defender only went for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge on Sebastiano Esposito.