Until April, former top referee Gianluca Rocchi had been assigning referee teams to Serie A and Serie B matches. However, following vocal criticism, he resigned—and now a new official is at the helm.
Following allegations that he had, among other things, knocked on the window of the VAR control room and generally exerted increased pressure on referees—including exerting massive influence over VAR decisions—Gianluca Rocchi felt compelled to resign from his position as referee coordinator for Italy’s professional leagues, Serie A and Serie B.
Since then, Dino Tommasi had been leading the organization on an interim basis, overseeing the final stretch of the season in both top leagues. This interim role came to an end this Tuesday.
Orsato has already assigned referees to matches
Officials have named Daniele Orsato as the future referee coordinator for Serie A and Serie B.
The now 50-year-old former referee, who had earned a reputation as a strong and impartial official during his career—having officiated an impressive 290 matches in Italy’s top flight, 55 matches as a UEFA referee in the Champions League, as well as seven European Championship and three World Cup matches—officiated his final match on June 2, 2024.
One of his biggest matches was undoubtedly the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, which ended 1-0 in favor of the Bundesliga’s record champions following a goal by Kingsley Coman during the “Corona tournament” in Lisbon. Orsato earned a grade of 1.5 for that performance.
Only time will tell whether he will live up to his reputation as a coordinator. He won’t have it easy in light of the fraud allegations against his predecessor, Rocchi—especially since the major Serie A clubs, including Inter Milan, Juventus Turin, and others, are known for lodging complaints. The native of Veneto already has professional experience in this area; among other things, he has scouted up-and-coming talent for the Italian Referees’ Association (Associazione Italiana Arbitri) and assigned referees to Serie C matches.