Stop Press: Zamparini is Leaving! Again!
By: Martha | March 5th, 2007
Our old friend Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has really had enough this time. Seriously. He’s quitting. Again. And he swears it’s for real: “I am leaving football and this time I am not joking.” (If you have to assure people you’re not joking after a statement like that, I think you know it’s unlikely your threat will be taken entirely seriously.)
The frequently pissed-off Zamparini is angry this time about the officiating in his team’s 2-0 loss to Messina yesterday. While he’s currently aboard on business and didn’t actually see the game, he’s been told the refs weren’t fair and that’s good enough for him. According to Zamp, he’s actively seeking someone who will replace him at the Palermo helm because “I think the problem might be me and not Palermo per se. An honest and clear person like me is not suited to this type of football.” So apparently he’s looking for a dishonest bastard to take over the club — who is going to put that on his resume?
In addition, Serie A has made me cynical as hell about self-serving claims of honestly. Think about it — when was the last time someone in Italian football, be it an official, an owner, or a player, stood up and said “I’m a cheat, which has gotten me where I am today. Honesty is for sissies!”? It’s rare as hell, right? So when Zamp insists he’s the only honest one, forgive me but I take it with a grain of salt. He’s in a dishonest culture and, yes, he may be above it all and may never have had a call go his way but, honestly, it’s hard to believe that’s the case. Plus, if it IS true, he’s not the only victim of corruption, as he often likes to pretend he is.
And, finally? I’m not entirely convinced the referee was cheating. As we discussed in the comments yesterday, there’s a fine line between an offiical who’s simply having a bad day, and one who is actively trying to turn the game in one team’s favor. (That’s said, Zamp looked like he was right in mid-week when he talked about a pro-Milan referee, so who the hell knows.)
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Comments
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I watched the game. I’m not surprised by the complaints from Palermo about the refereeing. By midway through the first half I was expecting they would be complaining. There were some seriously bad calls against Palermo, and they weren’t made just by the main ref-offsides calls are the responsibility of the linemen and there were a couple of dodgy calls (or non-calls) there too. That makes it hard to chalk it up to a ref having a bad day. Toward the end of the match, things degenerated, as the ref seemed to realize that he’d either a) been too transparently biased or b) screwed up really badly and seriously affected the match. If I were part of the Palermo organization, I’d be pissed off too. (But Caracciolo is still a dumbass and has no one to blame but himself for his red card.)
Sole honest man in calcio or not, I will be rather surprised if Zamparini does actually leave. I mean, we’ve heard such things before. The head of Catania talked about leaving football after Raciti was killed, but I’m pretty sure he changed his mind. Heck, Catania even appealed against their punishment. If he didn’t follow through, I can’t see Zampa taking his marbles and going home just yet, even if he does think the big boys aren’t playing fair.
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