Marotta responds to Conte again: ‘He can say what he wants’

Inter President Beppe Marotta gave a blunt response when asked for his views on Antonio Conte’s latest comments on refereeing in Serie A, as the war of words between the Nerazzurri executive and Partenopei head coach continues. 

Marotta and Conte have been feuding since the Serie A match between their two sides, which ended in a 3-1 victory for Napoli at the end of October. 

Inter and Marotta have argued that Napoli should not have been awarded a penalty five minutes before the end of the first half when the two teams met in October. 

Giovanni Di Lorenzo found himself in the penalty area and went down under the challenge of Henrikh Mikhtaryan. Some argue, however, that Di Lorenzo was looking for the contact, and that Mkhitaryan did not make any intentional moves towards the Napoli captain, and that the penalty should not have been given. 

Referee Maurizio Mariani did not initially signal for a penalty, but later changed his mind upon the recommendation of his assistant referee, Daniele Bindoni. 

Inter sent their club President, Marotta, out to speak to the press after full-time, instead of head coach Cristian Chivu. Marotta claimed that: “The penalty was decisive to shift the balance of the game. 

“It came from an evaluation made by the assistant referee. It is clear the referee was in the perfect position to evaluate, he viewed it and turned away, then blew the whistle eight seconds later.”

Conte later responded: “We remain hopeful that the moaning is not influencing Rocchi and the referees. When Presidents arrive to speak to the media, they think that they are sending a strong message and influencing the narrative. We are not here to whine, but we’re not stupid either.”

Conte was again asked about the refereeing in Serie A during his Champions League press conference on Monday evening. 

He said that: “The moment you start mentioning referees, even slightly, and raise an issue, they get confused.

“You’ve seen it. As soon as someone spoke up, all hell broke loose. Everything happened and more. Let’s not talk about referees, or we’ll confuse them even further. It’s a shame because sometimes you see the system isn’t built on solid foundations. At the first gust of wind, when someone tried to speak up to improve Italian football, look at what happens.”

Marotta, speaking at the Lega Serie A assembly on Monday, was asked what he made of Conte’s comments. He replied “I don’t want to answer that. 

“He’s free to say certain things. If there is respect and democracy, everyone is free to express their own convictions. It’s all fine.”