Italian Referees Barred from Tweeting about Soccer

Here in the United States, soccer may often be just an afterthought.

This is not the case overseas.  Soccer (or "football," as it's referred to outside the U.S.) is serious business in Europe and most of the rest of the world.

Now, Marcello Nicchi, new President of Italy's "Referees’ Association," wants to bar officials from using social networking sites and message boards.  He also wants the referees from blogging.

Nicchi was just elected as President in March.  One of the first things he did was release a list of “rules for privacy and institutional communication protocols.”

The new ruling translates as follows:

“Referees are barred from making statements in public including via email, their own websites, mailing lists, forums, blogs or discussion groups such as Facebook and similar systems.”

Referees who disobey will be deferred to the Disciplinary Commission.

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Technorati Tags: Italian Football, Italian Soccer, Marcello Nicchi, Social Networking

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