Swiss Media furious at UEFA’s choice to select Rosetti for the final

As many of you know from a previous post of mine the Ref who will be at the final in Vienna on the 29th of June will not be Massimo Busacca, UEFA and the Referee Commission have selected the Italian Referee Rosetti.

Following his disastrous performance in the opening game where he didn’t see a crystal-clear penalty that might have given Switzerland a precious draw and his dubious performances in two more games (including the heart-breaking Croatia-Turkey quarter-final) the Swiss Media and Press are obviously furious at the decision. Since the Swiss referee has certainly been the most reliable one during this tournament and since Switzerland had such an unlucky tournament, giving Busacca the final would have been the least to be expected.

French-speaking “Le Matin” says: “It’s a scandal just like the one in the opening game when Rosetti denied an obvious penalty caused by a touch by handballer Ujfalusi.” The choice is a political one according to the same newspaper that ignores the quality of the referees.

German-speaking Blick defines it as a “super-scandal” following the disastrous performances of the Italian referee. According to Blick the influence of the former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina was crucial in the final choice.

24-heures states that Busacca was a serious candidate for the final.

Massimo Busacca was interviewed, following the final choice for the last three games, and was mildly disappointed at UEFA’s choice: “I would have liked it to be otherwise but I still have 7 years, thus I have plenty of opportunities.”
The Swiss referee was present at the World Cup in 2006 and at the UEFA CUP final in 2007.

“There’s only the three of us (including Matthias Arnet and Stéphane Cuhat) left to represent Switzerland.” Curiously enough the “trinity” represents each corner of Switzerland: the german-speaking, the french-speaking and the italian-speaking communities.

He was the 4th official in the Russia-Netherlands game and often had to intervene to moderate the attitude of Guus Hiddink: “I respect the coach’s job. They have so much pressure that I try to be understanding. I have a positive personality. I’d rather leave my cards in the changing rooms. I try whistling the least possible. But when one has to …”

Concerning the match he will have to ref, that being Germany-Turkey (perhaps tougher than the final): “It might be a complicated one, especially since so many Turks live in Germany. The Turks will be motivated. Yet above all it’s the game between two teams that have played well. I don’t want to think about the issues and problems that might derive from it. I want to think of it as a positive game.”