The referee Massa attacked in Greece in the tunnel in Aek-Olympiacos-Corriere.it

It was not a good adventure that of the referee David Massa in Greece. Called to direct the derby between Olympiacos and Aek Athensthe Italian whistleblower denounced that he was hit in the underpass, after the final whistle, in the lower partsas he himself reported in match report. The two teams faced each other in the Scudetto playoff round on Saturday, but beyond the 3-1 for Aek (leaders together with Panathinaikos, while Olympiacos are 9 points behind in third place), the epilogue of the match was terrible in the light of the accidents and this attack on Massa. Who had been designated away for the derby: since 2018 in Greece, local referees cannot referee cartel matches due to too many cases of corruption and assaults that occurred previously.

Also in this case there were strong disputes for some referee decisions, such as the awarding of a penalty kick for the guests. And there was even a pitch invasionup to the crime in the tunnel leading to the changing rooms.

Clashes erupt in #Greece after the Olympiacos vs Aek football match. #olyaek @CGTNEurope #??? #?????????? #Aek #olympiacos pic.twitter.com/feFz1YTZ5d

— Evangelo Sipsas (@EvangeloSipsas) April 23, 2023

The images of what happened are strong: launching rockets and smoke bombsseats uprooted and thrown onto the green rectangletarget shooting with various objects, insults towards the referee acted as a prologue to that moment of collective madness, including the attitude of the president of Olympiacos, Evangelos Marinakis, involved in the past in one of the biggest scandals in Greek football. Once again, after the match, he exploded by issuing fiery declarations: Even the blind have seen what is happening in Greek footballfueling further suspicions about the regularity of the Greek tournament.

Olympiacos have just released a statement that will make your season.

I feel like we’ve been through this one before

“Today even the blind saw what is happening in Greek football. Criminals showed that they have no hesitation.”

Yes Marinakis, it appears they did pic.twitter.com/DcGgXyun6R

— AEK Insider (@AEKINSIDER) April 23, 2023

Afterwards, Olympiacos also spread a note with tones that were anything but calm: Fraudsters and cheaters have proven to have no scruples. a penalty was called in a phase in which there was no contact. They didn’t even turn to the VAR when there was a clear foul before AEK’s goal. All of Greece disgusted. The crooks of the Federation and the government, unable to deal with them, have killed football!.

In short, a climate that certainly didn’t help Massathen shot in the groin. He was the same referee in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg between Juventus and Inter, which finished 1-1 on 4 April (the second leg will be held tomorrow 26 April at San Siro). Match in which he had booked Lukaku for the second time, disqualified and then pardoned by the FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, because he is convinced that the Belgian with his by now typical exultation (made for the first time on 24 March after a goal scored against Sweden with the Belgium shirt) had silenced the Juventus fans, until then negative protagonists with blatant racist chants against the Nerazzurri forward. Instead, the way Lukaku has been celebrating for a month. Repeating the gesture precisely against the bianconeri, against the Benfica (April 11) and Empoli (April 23). And on Sunday 23 April he was imitated by Kouam in the Monza-Fiorentina. One way, that of the purple player, to share the fight against racism.