Reja concern at refereeing ´mistakes´

Lazio coach Edoardo Reja believes poor refereeing decisions could lead to his side missing out on Champions League football next year.

Lazio hung onto fourth – the final spot for Champions League football qualification – in the Serie A on Sunday after the Rome side defeated Parma 2-0.

“We started quite well today, we scored and then we stopped, we were slow, we conceded too much to Parma for 20 minutes and a team such as Lazio shouldn’t be giving that much away,” he said.

“Well, we need two away wins now, two away wins and to keep up with the solid home performances. We really need this, if we don’t win twice away we risk not making fourth position.”

But Reja also expressed concern about what he perceived as unfavourable referring decisions that he believed would prove unjust should Lazio fail to attain Champions League football for the 2011/12 season.

“I am very worried, I already was during the year and I’m particularly worried now, and not only for this period, the whole season went like that according to me,” he said.

“When something happens to us we complain a bit but everyone forgets about it in a day. When something happens to other teams the discussions seem to go on all week.”

“I hope the matches will be fair from now till the end of the championship, I hope so anyway. It didn’t happen during the year, but from now on everyone should be very careful, because the work done the whole season is at stake.”

“Mistakes can occur but should be made in good faith and not because influenced by something.”

Reja’s sentiment was also shared by veteran midfielder Cristian Brocchi.

“One thing is sure, if Lazio ended in the fourth place it would surely have deserved it more than other teams, because from the beginning of the championship up to now we’ve never had any favouritism, neither from the referees nor from the media,” Brocchi said.

“Compared to the other teams and so we’re really proud of ourselves. Yesterday it was a clear penalty for Roma, so nothing to say about that, while a lot could be said about the penalty not given to Udinese.”