Not all People are think that referees are buffoons! A few of them with continuous mistake often creates stirs and if all those woos are against my favorite team it can happen.

Collina is a man of respect. I really love his stern appearance in the ground.

Though someone I was talking to the other day made a good point on this — it’s hard to referee when there is such a melange of styles. We all know some countries let some kind of things go, and penalise others, as they’re part of the footballing culture there (or not). But MLS doesn’t have that identity set, so it must be tough to enforce a standard as a referee.

To give Collina some credit, I would say that he has had an impact on improving the physical condition and positioning of Italian referees. He seems not to have been as successful with linesmen, who are still cogenitally too quick to flag for offside.

He also has to contend with a set of referees that are for the most part relatively inexperienced at the highest level, as many of their senior colleagues were banned over calciopoli. When the Gazzetta publishes their pagelle, they always include the number of Serie A matches the fellow in quesion has called; that number is strikingly low for a good portion of the current Serie A roster. One would expect them to improve with experience, at least to the extent that UEFA’s ridiculous rules on forced retirements allow them to accumulate experience (Lazio keeper Ballotta would be on the verge of forced retirement if he was a ref).

Italy is also a miserable country to be to a referee, with the general lack of respect for the profession compounded by the endless, repetative spotlight placed on every contentious decision (not just in the papers’ pagelle and their “moviola” (replay) columns, but also in the endless replays on national and local tv), as well as the long-standing tradition of players skilled in the black arts of deception and managers and presidents ready to attack at the drop of a hat.

Of course, none of that really explains clangers like the ones Rizzoli dropped in Livorno (the Gazzetta said that he missed a certain penalty for them as well).

The standard here is still higher than that in Spain, though.

I have to confess that my love of Rizzoli has nothing to do with his refereeing skills at all. The man is distractingly good-looking.