A few more hours and then the changeover at the top of the Italian referees should become reality. For some time, the name of Gianluca Rocchi had been circulating as a possible successor to Nicola Rizzoli, a friend and colleague on the field for many years. In recent weeks, the hypothesis had become more concrete in light of the increasingly colder relations between the new president of the AIA, Trentalange, and the referee of the 2014 World Cup final, whose career as designator in all likelihood will stop after 4 years.
The names of the former designator Braschi and especially Messina, who could still be involved as Rocchi's deputy, were also mentioned. A solution found after the AIA had to recently discard the idea of a sort of “triad”, with a supervisor and two designators, one for the referees and one for the VAR. A formula that had immediately aroused the perplexity of the federal president Gravina. At that point, having to converge on a single name - obviously with trusted deputy commissioners to support it - the option of Rocchi became clear. Last year, precisely at the recommendation of Gravina, he played the much appreciated role of consultant for relations between FIGC and AIA and, above all, between AIA and the clubs. His relations with the Serie A and B teams were unanimously recognized as fruitful and high-profile, without forgetting that Rocchi himself is taking care of the VAR development, its expansion to Serie B and the activation of the centralized video control unit in Brianza (after the end of the Coverciano option). Rocchi would gladly have continued to carry out this double assignment, and in the event of a move to a more technical role, he would have started without problems from Serie C, to help raise younger referees and gain experience before exposing himself to the icy winds of Serie A. In the end, however, he could give in to the "call to arms" of Trentalange (and indirectly of Gravina himself, who would look favorably on his name), even though he is aware that controversy and a few sleepless nights await him.
Source: Sky Sport
