Serie A referee suspended after giving death threats to player

Because of the purported threats he made during a Kuwait Premier League game, Italian referee Fabio Maresca is currently suspended for one month from officiating in Serie A and has been withdrawn from his UEFA Champions League responsibilities for Tuesday's match between PSV and Sporting CP.

The Kuwait Premier League match involving Kuwait SC and Al-Arabi was officiated by Maresca on Friday night. The home team won 2-0, but according to sources on Tuesday, one of the players filed a major complaint regarding the official. 

Corriere della Sera reports that the incident happened during a quick exchange of words in English with Khaled Al Mershed, an Al-Arabi midfield player. Nonetheless, there are divergent accounts of what happened. Corriere della Sera reports that some people think Maresca said something like, "See you next time," while others think he said much more, like, "See you next time, I'll kill you," which explains why the consequences were so serious. 

Fabio Maresca is not expected to receive any additional punishment in Kuwait, according to the report from Tuesday. However, he has been suspended from Serie A activities for the next month and was not part of the officiating crew for PSV’s game against Sporting CP on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League. 

Fabio Maresca and his other controversial decisions

The 43-year-old was supposed to serve as the fourth official yesterday, but Daniele Doveri took his position. Maresca has only overseen one Serie A game in 2024–25, which was Milan and Torino's 2-2 draw on the first weekend of play. In 2011, the 43-year-old started off as a referee by officiating professional matches in his native Italy. Starting in 2018, he was in charge of games in the top European tournament. 

The greatest event of his career may have occurred in May when he dismissed Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri during the team's Coppa Italia victory over Atalanta. This was widely regarded as the tipping point, as two days later the Serie A heavyweights fired Allegri.