Paris 2024 Olympic referee Gianluca Gnecchi has been criticised for a serious decisional error during a rugby union match. The 32-year-old Italian referee, one of 23 appointed referees for the rugby sevens matches from July 24 to 30, has suffered an infamous moment in his refereeing career.
Gnecchi made headlines for all the wrong reasons when he took charge of the United Rugby Championship clash between Sigma Lions and Glasgow Warriors in 2021. The South Africans were left disappointed after a narrow 13-9 defeat to Scotland, with Jamie Bhatti scoring the only try less than three minutes into the game.
However, the validity of the crucial try was questioned after former Irish hooker coach Bernard Jackman shared footage of Barty spectacularly failing to clear the ball over the line. Despite the visual evidence, Gneci refused to concede to the Television Match Official (TMO) before awarding the try to the Warriors.
Gnecchi’s decision attracted widespread criticism, most notably former Dragons and Grenoble manager Jackman, who took to Twitter to express his disbelief, saying: “It’s hard to understand how this try was awarded.” According to the Mirror, Cardiff fly-half Jason Tovey also joined in his criticism, adding: “It’s actually embarrassing” in response to Gnecchi awarding Bhatti a try.
Fans were furious at the egregious error, with one disgruntled fan criticising the standards of European referees on social media: “The standards of European referees are terrible. It’s ridiculous that there are no English or French referees.”
Despite the backlash against Gneke at the time, he is regarded as one of the best referees in rugby and is highly rated by World Rugby High Performance Sevens Refereeing Manager Paddy O’Brien. “I am very excited to be managing such a highly experienced and talented group of referees at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” she said.
“The fact that so many countries are represented and all regions are involved is incredibly satisfying for our leadership team and a testament to the path we have been on over the past four years.”
O’Brien also highlighted the dedication of the selected referees, saying: “All of the referees who were selected worked very hard to ensure that when we arrived in Paris we had referees who were able to officiate and perform their official duties at the level required for such a special event.”
