Napoli-Livorno ref scandal

Pierluigi Collina has ordered a change of referee for tomorrow’s Napoli-Livorno game after the Amaranto club website ‘announced’ the assignation early.

Under Italian rules, the clubs are not told which referees will be assigned to their matches until a maximum of two days before kick-off.

As it is a midweek round on Wednesday evening, the draw for the officials was made on Tuesday. However, the Livorno website published a news item confirming referee Daniele Orsato for the tie on Monday.

The club should not have known about this, so refereeing designator Collina has ordered a change as a precautionary measure.

Now Emidio Morganti will take over the match at the Stadio San Paolo on Wednesday evening with new assistants Romagnoli, De Luca and Pantana.

"I am very irritated and surprised by this," stated Collina when told about the ‘prediction’ made by Livorno.

This incident has brought back fears over Calciopoli, where former Juventus director general Luciano Moggi had telephone conversations with the refereeing designators suggesting which officials to assign.

Source: C4 Football Italia