Agnolin presents Ethical Code

The Referees’ Association Commissioner Luigi Agnolin (left) with new refereeing designator Stefano Tedeschi.

Referees’ Association (AIA) Commissioner Luigi Agnolin has presented the new Ethical Code to the FIGC in the hope this will help prevent future scandals.

After Calciopoli, the footballing world is in need of new rules, including an innovative regulation for the men in black, who were protagonists of the summer scandal. Agnolin presented the new ethical code to the Football Federation today.

Article 16 of the regulation obliges all referees to report any suspicious behaviour they may observe in their colleagues, to avoid being themselves considered guilty of violating the ethical code.

Also, the referees and their assistants must inform the Association and its President of any job or partnership dating back to the last three years.

Article 13 of the code forbids accepting any presents which are worth more than 80 euros and the referees will be punished if they record a telephone call with a colleague or a Federal member, without asking for the interlocutor’s permission before the conversation begins.

In the intentions of Agnolin the new code should avoid the ambiguity surrounding the behaviour of many referees in the past few years and should deter any wrongdoing, but the first reactions to the new rules also highlighted that they will need to be carefully managed by the Referees’ Association in order to avoid a dangerous witch-hunt.