Juventus released a statement on Thursday demanding parity when it comes to penalty awards in Serie A.
The Turin giants felt they were denied two penalties on Wednesday night in their goalless draw at Parma, after which coach Antonio Conte complained that they have not been awarded enough spot-kicks this season.
And the club are backing their coach.
"We hope that equal treatment is being followed and will be followed in every seat of authority and will be applied in conjunction with the rules of the game of football and those of sporting and ordinary justice," said the club statement.
"Juventus Football Club repeats and supports the statements of the coach Antonio Conte, the consultant Pavel Nedved and of (midfielder) Andrea Pirlo after the match."
Following Wednesday's match, Conte suggested there was a conspiracy against his team.
"I'm starting to sense a horrible atmosphere in which the referees are afraid to give Juve a penalty," he said.
"We're annoyed by this, even the bottom team in the league has had more penalties than us."
Juve have only been awarded one penalty in the league this season, less than everyone else.
But they have only given away three, meaning only four teams have had fewer penalties against them.
Mid-table Catania have had the most penalties with seven, followed closely by leaders AC Milan and second-bottom Cesena, suggesting that there is no connection between league position and penalties awarded.
That in itself disproves Conte's claim that it was "impossible" for his side to have been leading the league all season and yet have had fewer spot-kicks than the others.
As for penalties conceded, seventh-placed Napoli have given away the fewest with none, while 10th-placed Genoa have been penalised the most with eight penalties against them.
In terms of the difference between penalties awarded and those conceded, leaders AC Milan and Napoli are the most privileged with plus five while Genoa have been the hardest hit with a minus six record.
Juve are joint-16th in that list, alongside Inter Milan.
Source: AFP
