Roma to send official complaint to UEFA over referee Stieler after Porto draw | OneFootball

Roma have reportedly decided to send an official letter of complaint to UEFA over the performance of referee Tobias Stieler during the club’s 1-1 draw with FC Porto in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round on Thursday evening.

Though the Giallorossi recorded a relatively positive result away against Porto, Ranieri was left utterly enraged by some of the refereeing decisions, told his players not to shake hands with the officials at full-time, before giving a furious post-match press conference after full-time.

epa11894540 Roma’s head coach Claudio Ranieri (R) gestures during the UEFA Europa League soccer match between FC Porto and AS Roma, in Porto, Portugal, 13 February 2025. EPA-EFE/FERNANDO VELUDO

Roma plan to send official complaint to UEFA after Porto refereeing

Stieler dished out eight yellow cards to Roma, sending off Bryan Cristante and a member of Ranieri’s coaching staff. Porto received three bookings over the course of the 90 minutes. There were also suggestions that the Giallorossi were not allowed to make a pre-planned substitution moments before Porto’s equaliser.

“We asked for a substitution, the assistant referee knew there was going to be a substitution,” Ranieri said after full-time on Thursday.

He later added: “It’s a fiery atmosphere, the crowd blows and he moves in their direction, and you assign him to this fixture? I don’t understand why.

“He was going around promising cards to some, giving them to others. In my view, he was waiting for something to happen inside the penalty area so he could give them the victory.”

Now, according to reports from Calciomercato.com, Ranieri has received the support of Roma’s owners, the Friedkins, who are expected to send an official letter of complaint to UEFA in the coming days.