MN: ‘There must be respect' – why Milan and Ibrahimovic have lost patience with officiating

Yahoo

11-02-2025

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's words during Joao Felix's presentation yesterday have made the headlines, and not because of what he said about the Portuguese forward.
As MilanNews write, after yet another game that saw Milan penalised by poor officiating, Ibrahimovic finally decided publicly make the displeasure of the club known, with the Empoli game on Saturday having been the final straw it seems.
'I always ask the players to be polite with the referee. At the end of the first half I asked the referee to respect the Milan players. I am surprised that my players did not react more strongly after the Walker situation, a situation out of control: if it goes badly this player risks not playing for a year,' he said.
'I do not want to be too dramatic, but the referee told me that perhaps it was a yellow card. I do not care if cautioned or sent off, I care about control of the game and he was really dangerous. He was outside the football that everyone likes.
'The Tomori situation is then the consequence of VAR letting the game continue because it doesn't stop the game. Tomori gets the second yellow and is sent off but there was an offside before. For us it is not acceptable and we will send a letter to the AIA. Because it is not acceptable.
'Two very serious situations for us and also the consequences within the match. Playing with one player less when they should have played with one less man… Then I understand Walker who comes from the Premier League and doesn't make a scene, but he shouldn't have to make a scene to get a reaction from the referee.
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'The referee must follow his instinct but he must do the right thing. There must be respect for Milan, I don't want to be critical of the referee but it's not the first time it's happened and I only ask for this. Respect for Milan and for the players.'
During the Open VAR programme which looks into the controversial incidents from each round of action, they made the bizarre comment that there was not enough 'intensity' to warrant a red card for Cacace's challenge on Walker, despite his studs being planted into his ankle.
It adds to the list of errors that Milan can feel aggrieved about, such as De Ketelaere's goal in the Atalanta game when he put two hands on Theo Hernandez's back to jump. Then there was a penalty missing for Pisilli's foul on Reijnders in Milan-Roma for a late slide, which Open VAR ignored.
In Milan-Cagliari there was a penalty not awarded on Abraham and here too Open VAR deliberately chose not to comment on the episode. In Cagliari-Milan the first goal for the Sardinians was an offside on Luvumbo who was in Maignan's line of vision for Zortea's beautiful shot. Open VAR ignored it again.
Reijnders was sent off in Milan-Udinese when the Dutchman did everything he could to avoid the attacker's run towards the goal, but instead Lovric slowed down to invite the contact. The touch is minimal but for the referee it is enough to extract the red card that was not overturned.
Then we come to Empoli-Milan, when Tomori was sent off for a second yellow card. Colombo was offside while making the run that led to the challenge and VAR protocol cannot intervene on a double yellow but only on a straight red card.
Ibrahimovic is right when he says that his players should ask for respect for the referees. Refereeing at high levels is complicated and mistakes can happen, but accountability is needed and fans are often kept in the dark by Open VAR, something that they should be able to trust.