Adrien Rabiot criticises Serie A officials after Milan defeat Genoa

Adrien Rabiot criticised the refereeing in Serie A despite Milan’s 2-1 victory over Genoa in the 11th round of the league season.

The Milan midfielder was angered by a decision involving Genoa defender Alessandro Marcandalli during the match. In the 49th minute, Marcandalli brought Rabiot down just before the halfway line as the Frenchman moved towards the Genoa goal.

Referee Davide Massa showed Marcandalli a yellow card, but Rabiot believed the challenge warranted a red. He continued to protest and was booked himself.

Milan’s substitutes’ bench also reacted angrily to the decision. Massa subsequently sent off three people, including the club doctor and members of the coaching staff.

The dispute continued after the final whistle on social media. Former referee Paolo Calvarese backed Massa’s decision in a post on Instagram, arguing that several factors had to be considered before determining whether Rabiot had been denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

“The direction of the attack, the distance from the goal, the number of defenders and control of the ball must be taken into consideration,” Calvarese wrote.

Several users tagged Rabiot in the comments beneath the video, prompting the France international to respond directly to the former official.

“In life, as in football, mistakes can be made, but at the very least we must know how to acknowledge them,” Rabiot wrote.

“Continuing to lie will not help you move forward. Italian football is the one paying the price for this. Think about it.”

Calvarese later revisited the incident in comments to La Gazzetta dello Sport and said the decision fell into a difficult area of interpretation.

“Let us make it clear from the outset that this is a complicated situation and one that falls within a grey area,” he said.

“If referee Massa had shown a red card, VAR would not have intervened to overturn the decision.”

For an incident to be classified as denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, all four relevant criteria must be assessed: control of the ball, the overall direction of the attack, the number of defenders and the distance from the goal.

Calvarese said those factors explained why Massa opted for a caution rather than a dismissal. Rabiot was approximately 65 metres from goal and was positioned slightly towards one side of the pitch when he was brought down.

Those circumstances, he said, led the referee to conclude that a red card was not justified.