Napoli, De Laurentiis accepts blame for mishap, questions fairness of card system

Following Napoli’s clash with Monza, Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis made his presence felt at a press conference.

In a somewhat surprising move, De Laurentiis shouldered full responsibility for the club’s recent struggles. These comments were captured by TMW during his press conference.

He said, “Everything that has happened so far is my sole responsibility. The fault should not lie with the players or the coaches, I take all the responsibility.” He also took the opportunity to apologise to the fans of Napoli and the city if the club’s position in the league standings wasn’t satisfactory.

De Laurentiis didn’t stop there though. He went on to express his concern about the fairness in the Italian football. He pleaded with Gravina and Rocchi, saying that they must strive to foster a sense of fairness and spectacle in Italian football.

According to the Napoli president, there appears to be a problem in the handling of match officials, specifically how they distribute discipline during a game. “There is no equity in the distribution of cards,” he pointed out.

However, he firmly stated his intent not to focus on refereeing decisions detrimental to Napoli, despite acknowledging their existence, stating that many other teams also suffered from them. He did however, single out referee Rocchi for specific criticism.

De Laurentiis claimed, “Dear Rocchi, you can’t let a referee send off both Palladino and Mazzarri. That’s not football.”

He also criticised Rocchi’s apparent eagerness to brandish cards at every opportunity for respectability. De Laurentiis argued that cards should be distributed fairly and suggested that maybe the mental fatigue from running could have affected the referee’s judgement.

And summed his comments with a call for changes in the officiating department, similar to those made with players.