Daniele Orsato, the renowned Italian referee, has recently made headlines by turning down an offer to become a technical consultant for the Russian Football Federation’s Referee Commission. In a candid interview with Repubblica (via Calciomercato), Orsato explained his decision, citing ethical concerns.
“I was asked to collaborate with the Russian Football Federation as an expert, but considering the current socio-political situation and my ethical principles, I decided not to accept,” Orsato stated.
Regarding his future plans, the former referee expressed interest in new challenges within Italy. “I’m looking for new challenges. I want to focus my energy on a technical and associative project with the AIA in Italy. I won’t run for presidency because I’m a technician. I could only assist in a political project aimed at separating associative and political management from the sporting one.”
Orsato also shared his thoughts on the relationship between referees and VAR technology. “It’s now an indispensable tool for reducing errors, but we need to build a generation of referees who can decide with personality because sometimes there’s no certainty even in the images, and therefore the on-field decision remains irreplaceable,” he explained. He added, “I’d like a world where everyone understood referee errors, but with today’s technologies, no one would rightly accept losing a World Cup final due to a millimetric offside.”
When questioned about his long absence from refereeing Inter Milan matches (his last match was in May 2023, while the famous Pjanic incident in the Inter-Juventus match dates back to 2018), Orsato responded diplomatically: “I’ve refereed all teams many times, some more frequently, others less. The designator decides when it’s time to officiate one team rather than another.”
