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Serie A club refereeing manager Giorgio Schenone has been implicated in a scandal involving referee designator Gianluca Rocchi. The controversy centers around allegations of collusion to influence referee assignments for Inter's matches.
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What are the duties of a Serie A club refereeing manager?
With news Interās club referee manager Giorgio Schenone was mentioned in Gianluca Rocchiās wiretapped calls, Marco Gabriele explains what the role actually entails.
The scandal that prompted Serie A and B refereeing designator Rocchi to suspend himself this week continues to grow, with more questions being answered.
It was alleged that Rocchi had colluded with someone to remove Daniele Doveri from big Inter games and replace him with someone āpreferredā by the club, such as Andrea Colombo, but not clear who had made the evaluations.
Today Repubblica newspaper claim Rocchi mentioned Schenone in a wiretapped telephone call on April 2, 2025.
Schenone is Interās official club referee manager, so it is to a certain degree his job to communicate with the referees, but not every Serie A club even has someone in this role.
LONDON, ENGLAND ā NOVEMBER 05: Referee Gianluca Rocchi during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Chelsea FC and AFC Ajax at Stamford Bridge on November 05, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
The Gazzetta dello Sport therefore contacted former Lazio club referee manager Marco Gabriele, a retired referee, to give a little more insight.
A Serie A club refereeing manager oversees the selection and management of referees for their club's matches, ensuring compliance with regulations and standards.
Giorgio Schenone is Inter's club refereeing manager, mentioned in wiretapped calls related to allegations of collusion with referee designator Gianluca Rocchi.
Gianluca Rocchi is accused of colluding to remove referee Daniele Doveri from key Inter games and replacing him with a preferred referee.
The scandal has led to Rocchi's suspension and raised serious questions about the integrity of referee assignments in Serie A.
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āThere are some internal duties within the club, others external that involve relations with the referee. During their careers, players often donāt know the rules of the game, especially when it comes to handball. So we try to inform the players of the rules and how to use the right language when communicating with the referee.
āThere are some players who know more about the rules than others. Pepe Reina, for example, would write to me and ask about specific incidents in games he wasnāt even involved in.ā
Among the duties of the club referee manager is also to study who is officiating the next match and prepare his players for the approach they might take.
āThere can be some very clear differences,ā continued Gabriele. āMassa for example is very detached, rigid in his communication, whereas Maresca and Guida prefer to dialogue with the players.
āIāve also had to describe the characteristics of opposition players and statistics, for example that if you are up against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and his opponents often get booked in the first half, a coach has to be prepared for that.ā
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Napoli shows his disappointment during the Serie A match between Napoli and SS Lazio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on December 08, 2024 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
The issue at stake here is how must he represent the club when speaking to referees and the designator.
āThe day of the game, you welcome the referee if it is your home match, accompany the officials to the dressing room and see if they need a physio or anything. Then organise transport to a hotel or airport after the match.
āIt is also your job to ensure no directors enter the refereeās dressing room. Only the President of the club, or a representative of the club, can enter for a formal hello and thatās it.ā
FLORENCE, ITALY ā MAY 23: Gianluca Rocchi former Italian referee and referee designator for the Serie A and Serie B championships during the FIGC Hall of Fame Event on May 23, 2022 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Can the referee club manager call up the refereeing designator?
āNo, you cannot do that. If you did, the designator would have to inform the Federal Prosecutor. Itās different if you happen to meet in a stadium or another role, thatās natural that there will be a conversation.
āIf you have to ask for an explanation of a certain decision, you call the designated go-between, who in this case is Andrea De Marco. There generally arenāt arguments in these situations, youād just try to get your idea across, but never in a discourteous way,ā concluded Gabriele.
It is important to note that while Inter designator Schenone was mentioned by Rocchi in the wiretapped phone call, he was not involved in the call itself.
The details are therefore still not very clear as to why Rocchi believed Inter didnāt want Doveri officiating their big games.