Conte: 'Ref should be sacked!'

Antonio Conte claims tonight’s referee should be sacked. “He said he ‘didn’t feel ready’ to give the penalty. That’s not normal. I cannot tolerate this.”

Juventus were furious in stoppages during their 1-1 draw with Genoa when Andreas Granqvist mistimed a clearance, accidentally kicking the ball up on to his own arm.

The referee and his assistants only awarded a corner, judging the handling offence to be involuntary. At the final whistle, Conte and his players crowded round referee Marco Guida.

“I think they went over the line today,” said Conte on Sky Sport Italia.

“I accept it if they admit they didn’t see the incident, but hearing a referee say ‘I didn’t feel ready’ to give the penalty is not normal. This is not football. I think in these cases saying ‘shame on you’ is the very least one can do.

“I would’ve accepted it if he hadn’t seen it, but the goal line referee said it was a penalty. The arm must be close to the torso, the rules are clear. In these cases, you’ve got to give up your refereeing licence.

“Clearly tomorrow I will tell my lads about the positive and negative aspects of the evening, but I cannot tolerate what happened.

“Let’s definitely not hear the media breaking our balls over pro-Juve and anti-Juve errors, because errors are everywhere for and against everyone.”