Referee Juan Luca Sacchi will face suspension after he blatantly refused to shake hands with his assistant who happened to be a woman.
Juan Luca Sacchi was caught in a viral video snubbing his assistant Francesca Di Monte just before Friday’s match between Lecce and Sassuolo.
The official was also seen hugging and shaking his other assistants and the Lecce captain Gabriel Strefezza in the tunnel.
However, reports in Italy have it that Sacchi will be given a one-match suspension as a punishment for the ugly behavior.
Juan Luca Sacchi behaved in a way that has reportedly caused embarrassment to the Italian Referees Association (AIA).
The Executives of the Referees Association have also claimed that the act by Juan Luca Sacchi is not to be seen as a form of sexist discrimination.
Reports also have it that the referee was scolded behind closed doors after the video of the snub surfaced online.
The Referees Association released a statement saying: “We can absolutely exclude that this was a sexist gesture or a personal snub.”
“As far as we are concerned, it is not a problem, it was only an involuntary gesture that was misinterpreted.”
“Juan Luca Sacchi and Francesca Di Monte worked well during the match and their performance was excellent.”
“What is truly surprising is that there is talk of sexism in an association that has made the knocking down of gender barriers one of its greatest achievements.”
Juan Luca Sacchi, 38, has been officiating matches in the Serie A since 2015 and has overseen a total of 43 matches since then.
The referee had previously been suspended after he made a big blunder in Inter Milan’s 2-2 draw against Monza back in January.
The Referee was heavily criticized for wrongly blowing his whistle for a foul and disallowing an Inter goal whilst they led 2-1.
After the snubbing between him and Francesca Di Monte, the Serie A match at the Stadio Via del Mare between Lecce and Sassuolo ended in a 1-1 draw.
Domenico Berardi scored for Sassuolo from the spot to give them the lead before Nikola Krstovic equalized for the hosts.
