Former FIFA referee and current head of first and second division referees Gianluca Rocchi has officially entered the Italian Football Hall of Fame. The award ceremony was held at the prestigious Salone dei Cinquecento of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. “I am receiving this award with great emotion”, said Rocchi. “I want to thank all those who thought of me for this recognition”. The former international referee from Florence, as well as all the winners of each category, donated a piece to the Coverciano Football Museum that will be kept in the display cases of the Hall of Fame. The designator of the Serie A and B referees has chosen to give the uniform worn at the 2019 Europa League final, between Chelsea and Arsenal. This is the motivation of the award: "Fitness, positioning and knowledge of the game have made him one of the best modern referees. He was able to play his role with authority without ever ceasing to update and question himself. This quality allowed him to referee in a football era of profound transition, marked by the introduction of technology ".
The occasion also celebrated the awards of the ninth edition, thus recovering the ceremony that was not allowed to take place due to the pandemic restrictions. The memorial prize was then awarded to the former international referee Alberto Michelotti of Parma. His grandson Luca took the stage, donating the ball of the 1980 European Championship as a souvenir of his father. This is the reason for the award: "A giant as a man and as a referee, not only for his imposing physicality. He lived a life of romance and an international referee career that honored him and Italy in football. Maybe because, as Gianni Mura wrote in the preface of his biography, "if you weigh six kilos when you come into the world, maybe you are predestined!".
Referees inducted so far in the Italian Hall of Fame: Pierluigi Collina (2011), Luigi Agnolin (2012), Paolo Casarin (2012), Cesare Gussoni (2013), Sergio Gonella (2013), Stefano Braschi (2014), Roberto Rosetti (2015) , Nicola Rizzoli (2018), Alberto Michelotti (2020), Gianluca Rocchi (2022).
Source: AIA