The head of the Italian referee association has defended under-fire official Emilio Pellegrino.
The man in black has been heavily criticised by Inter after they were dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Juventus last night.
But Paolo Bergamo insists he is happy with Pellegrino’s display in the semi-final clash at the San Siro.
"Pellegrino officiated in an excellent manner," Bergamo declared. "He did make a few mistakes but not at critical points of the game."
That view is unlikely to be shared by the majority of Nerazzurri fans who witnessed the game on Thursday.
There were two main incidents that caused controversy. The first was the dismissal of Ivan Cordoba.
He hacked down Pavel Nedved as the Juventus ace was about to enter the penalty area to unleash a shot. An instant red, probably justified, followed.
Yet it was the decision to not award Inter a penalty soon after that infuriated the home side. Paolo Montero seemed to bring down Emre in the area but no spot kick was awarded.
Inter chief Giacinto Facchetti described Pellegrino’s display as "unacceptable" with a number of Nerazzurri players also unhappy.
The latest being Dejan Stankovic (pictured) who is mystified at what happened during his side’s penalty shoot-out defeat.
"I’ve never taken part in a game like that in my life," quotes the Inter website. "I can’t say too much as I would almost certainly be banned for my comments.
"I don’t really want to talk about the referee because he doesn’t deserve it. We gave it our all but everyone saw what happened on the pitch
