Give The Refs A Break Says Juve's Trezeguet
MILAN (Reuters) - Juventus striker David Trezeguet says he is tired of Italian football's obsession with refereeing performances.
Trezeguet, joint top scorer in Serie A with 14 goals so far this season, has called on those in the game to avoid the topic -- at least in the run-up to Juve's crucial game at reigning champions Roma on Sunday.
"I would like a week where there is less talk about referees," said Trezeguet.
"In Italy there is too much talk about match officials. Whoever is asked to referee at the Olympic stadium on Sunday will be capable of doing their job well," added the France international.
While a rare vote of confidence for the country's under-fire officials, Trezeguet's comments are unlikely to have much effect as Italy builds up to the always tense North-South clash.
Roma's controversial president Franco Sensi, who over the years has often complained about referees' decisions against his team, kicked off the almost traditionally pre-match wind-ups with a call for international referees to be brought in for games involving the top three -- Juve, Roma and Inter Milan.
"This is to guarantee the regularity of the championship," said Sensi, without further explanation.
But his frequent adversary in the rows that are lapped up by Italy's media, Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, said his club was not worried about the choice of referee.
"For us, this ref or that ref makes no difference," said Moggi.
Italian referees come under intense scrutiny, particularly from television programmes some lasting up to three hours, which focus heavily on action replays of controversial decisions.
Two seasons ago Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara called for a temporary halt on such 'replay shows' and for greater all-round tolerance of referee's mistakes.
But this season there have been angry rows and hints of favouritism following almost every weekend of action.
