She gave her hand to him. Everyone raged after what he did
In recent days, a recording from an Italian Serie A match has sparked a wave of comments. Cameras placed in the tunnel leading to the pitch captured how the referee of the league match, Luca Sacchi, did not shake hands with his assistant that day, Francesca Di Monte. According to media reports, the controversial behavior of the referee has already caught the attention of the Italian Football Association.
On October 6, there was a match in the Italian Serie A between Lecce and Sassuolo. The game ended with a score of 1:1 and probably would have passed without much resonance in the soccer community, if not for the behavior of the main referee of the match, Lucci Sacchiego.
An incident that spread across the internet occurred in the stadium tunnel as both teams were preparing to enter the field. Standing at the head of the line, Sanchi shook the hand of Sassuolo's captain, Gian Marco Ferrari, who was standing to his left. He then turned to his right, wanting to shake hands with Lecce's captain, Gabriel Strefezza.
And here an event occurred, which the media all over the world are commenting on. The closest to Sacchi was his assistant, Francesca Di Monte. Seeing the chief referee's hand extended in her direction, the assistant wanted to shake it. However, Sancci ignored this gesture, withdrawing his hand, which he then extended to the captain of Lecce.
The video circulating on the internet suggests that Sacchi's reaction surprised his assistant. Di Monte casually spreads his hands in a questioning gesture, and then shakes his head in disbelief. A moment later, the referees and players are already walking out onto the stadium field.
However, it turns out that the apparent clumsiness of the main referee of the match could bring about substantial consequences for him. Italian media reported that Sacchi will be suspended and will not lead the next round of Serie A matches. The Italian Referee Association (AIA) also provided a comment on this matter for NASA, emphasizing that the situation arises from pre-match stress and is not evidence of sexism, which Sacchi was accused of by some observers.
We need to completely rule out the sexist gesture. For us, the problem doesn't exist, it was just an involuntary and misinterpreted gesture. What's surprising is that we are talking about sexism in an association that has made the elimination of all gender-related barriers one of its main goals. - was the AIA's position.
The stance of the Italian referee has divided Internet users and led to the emergence of extreme opinions. Among others, popular Italian celebrity Melissa Satta spoke up on this matter. The television presenter and partner of tennis player Matteo Berrettini called for a lifetime disqualification for Sacchi in her social media.
There are also voices that suggest that although the situation looked awkward, Sancci is not largely to blame. The British "Mirror" indicates that the handshake between the referees of the match is not part of the accepted protocol, which is evidenced by the fact that the main referee did not shake hands with one of his assistants either.
The main characters also referred to the bizarre incident. Sancci stated that he and Di Monte laughed about the entire situation on the way back from the match. The woman in question didn't express any regret about her colleague's attitude in her statements, in fact, she defended him.
I'm sorry that the gesture of misunderstanding has grown to such a rank - Di Monte told Italian media.
