Juventus officials have criticized the decision to send off defender Pierre Kalulu in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to league leaders Inter Milan in the Serie A.
The French defender had received an earlier caution and was sent off for a second yellow card in the first half, despite making no contact with Alessandro Bastoni.
Despite signalling to the referee to review the incident, the Video Assistant Referees could not intervene in the decision as it was not a straight sending off.
Juventus went on to lose the match 3-2, although club director Giorgio Chiellini and CEO Damien Comolli were seen angrily confronting the referee in the tunnel at halftime.
“It’s hard to talk about football after what happened today, something unacceptable has happened again, and you can’t ruin a game of this importance”, Chiellini said.
“This is a show that we are putting on for the world, we need to change something immediately, without wasting time, as often happens in Italian football. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been saying that there is no adequate structure for the league. We cannot continue like this. Decisions like the one made tonight cannot be taken lightly.”
Inter Milan had taken the lead when Andrea Cambiaso had put the ball into his own net.
The Juventus defender then scored in the right post, grabbing the equalizing for his side in the tie.
Pio Esposito put Inter back in the lead in the 76th minute, but Juventus struck back later through Manuel Locatelli.
However, Piotr Zielinsli snatched the win for Inter in the 90th minute to consolidate their position at the top of the standings.
“What happened today is embarrassing. It’s something that has been seen all around the world. It cannot happen again, and what happened tonight is just the latest of many things that have happened this season”, Comolli revealed.
“It’s hard to accept injustices like this one. We can’t talk about football today. The coach and the players are very frustrated after what’s happened tonight. It is totally unacceptable. We lost three points, but Italian football lost much more.
“This message is, first and foremost, for our fans. At Juventus, we are united in fighting against injustice and we will not give up.”
Juventus remain in fourth place, but are now 15 points behind Inter Milan at the top of the standings.
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