ALESSANDRO LUCARELLI AFTER ROMA 2-1 PARMA: “WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT THESE TYPES OF MISTAKES”

Roma, 8 July 2020 – Speaking to DAZN after Wednesday’s defeat to Roma, Parma’s club manager Alessandro Lucarelli had this to say: “I am the one talking because our director has already been suspended. I think that what happened tonight borders on the ridiculous. The fact that this evening’s penalty wasn’t given three days after we saw the spot-kick that was awarded against Darmian. When the ball hit Mancini’s arm the referee was called to consult VAR for the penalty and he decided not to give it. Once again we have been penalised by refereeing decisions, as has been the case in previous matches.

“Until now, we’ve tried not to create controversy or incite trouble, however, after tonight enough is enough. Just because we have 39 points does not mean that we are the village idiots. We want to go for it until the end of the season but we cannot accept these type of mistakes any longer. By looking at the incidents, we can see that a penalty was given against us following Bruno Alves’ foul on Di Carmine. There is then the penalty from last Sunday for Darmian’s handball. And then tonight we’re not given a penalty. We need to understand the difficulty that exists for referees. VAR was meant to be there to help referees but it is just causing confusion. Beyond just us, who it is impacting a lot, we see in every match that penalties are given and not given which truly gives a sense of the confusion.

“Obviously, we committed some mistakes tonight but the team’s desire was there. It’s normal for certain incidents to make the difference in closely-balanced games, but once again it has gone against us by way of a questionable decision. It’s only normal for the lads to be tense because this has happened in five or six matches. We’ve remained quiet until now but we can’t keep on pretending. We need attention not only from the referees but in general. We have 39 points but if we were on 28 or 29 and our position in the league was at stake, then there would be many bans. The fact that we have a relatively comfortable league position does not mean that we can let this pass in silence.”