Serie A: Napoli president furious with ref as Ancelotti was sent off

Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis claimed that "buffoonery from the referee" was the reason that Carlo Ancelotti and his assistant were sent off in their 2-2 against Atalanta in Serie A 2019-20. Josip Ilicic bagged a late 86th-minute equaliser but it took a long VAR check for the goal to stand and meanwhile, Napoli were appealing for a penalty. Ancelotti and his assistant were shown a red card for protesting against the decision. De Laurentiis was very furious about the decision and while speaking to Italian media, he said that without the teams, the referees would be peeling potatoes and that it is pointless giving eight additional minutes when VAR is available. 

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Napoli vs Atalanta: More about the incident

He further questioned the decision from Pino Giacomelli, the match official, who kicked-out a 'gentleman' like Ancelotti. Aurelio de Laurentiis said that they are fed up and tired of paying for this standard of officiating. The whole drama started when Napoli's striker Fernando Llorente collided with Simon Kjaer in the Atalanta penalty box. Napoli thought it was a penalty but it resulted into Atalanta scoring from a counter-attack of Ilicic's strike. The officials took five minutes to allow the goal but did not check the penalty incident raised by Napoli. Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti said he considers what happened was an attack on his professionalism, his players and his club.

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