Adrien Rabiot criticises refereeing after AC Milan’s win over Genoa

Adrien Rabiot has criticised the officiating after AC Milan’s 2-1 victory at Genoa, warning that repeated mistakes and a refusal to acknowledge them could damage Italian football.

AC Milan secured the points through goals from Alfadjo Cisse and Christian Pulisic, but the match was overshadowed by a contentious decision in the 50th minute.

Rabiot was booked for protesting the decision, while members of AC Milan’s coaching staff were shown red cards after the incident.

The controversy began when Rabiot won possession from Genoa defender Alessandro Marcandalli before being deliberately brought down. AC Milan players appealed for Marcandalli to be sent off, arguing that the challenge had denied Rabiot a clear scoring opportunity.

Referee Davide Massa showed Marcandalli a yellow card rather than a red. Rabiot was also cautioned for his reaction, and the Video Assistant Referee confirmed Massa’s decision.

Former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese later defended the ruling in an explanation posted on Instagram.

“Rabiot’s chance was an opportunity to score, but the rules state that four criteria must be met for an offence to be considered the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity,” Calvarese said.

“Those criteria are control of the ball, the direction of the attack, the number of nearby defenders and the distance from the goal.

“In this case, given that the offence occurred close to the touchline and around 60 metres from the goal, I believe Davide Massa’s decision to show a yellow card is defensible.”

Calvarese added that the decision could also have stood if Massa had opted to send Marcandalli off.

“At the same time, if Massa had shown a red card, the Video Assistant Referee would not have been able to intervene, because the decision would still have been subject to the referee’s judgement on the pitch,” he said.

His assessment was similar to that of Luca Marelli, the refereeing expert for Italian broadcaster DAZN, who also noted that the foul had taken place inside AC Milan’s half.

Rabiot, however, was not persuaded by those explanations and replied angrily to Calvarese’s post.

“In life, as in football, mistakes can be made, but you should at least be capable of admitting them,” the AC Milan midfielder wrote.

“Continuing to lie will not help you improve, and Italian football will be the one to pay the price.”

He ended his message by writing: “Think about it. Good evening.”