Pierluigi Collina has spoken, and he is not happy.
The 2002 World Cup final referee highlighted Hector Moreno’s lusty, sliding tackle on Manchester United Luke Shaw, last month, as a situation where the defender “played ball and legs”.
Speaking at the Leaders in Sports Business Summit 2015, Collina commented: “On the field, nobody reacted because what was perceived, even by players on the field of play, was that the ball was played.
“This is the thought of many: if the ball is played, it is not even a foul,” added Uefa’s refereeing chief.
“We need to make people, even the football community, aware that if you want to protect the safety of the player, even challenges on the ball but risking in terms of endangering safety of an opponent can be punished, should be punished.”
The Italian said PSV defender Moreno should have faced consequences for the challenge and added that Shaw’s injury, along with a similar one sustained by Barcelona’s Rafinha, led UEFA to contact its officials.
He said, “We immediately reminded all of our referees how it is important to be careful in assessing those challenges that can be rated as reckless or even a serious problem.
“We want to have the players playing and not players recovering from long-term injuries.
“We certainly reminded our referees to be very, very careful with this matter.”
Collina added, “We would like also to remind players to be very careful when they make challenges. We would like to convince them that getting the football is not everything.
“If a player hits the ball and then endangers the opponent, he is convinced that the job was done correctly.”
