Journalist defends Spalletti after claims of harassment for TV kiss: ‘Exaggerated’
Journalist Federica Zille has come to the defence of Bianconeri head coach Luciano Spalletti, who kissed her live on TV while trying to make his point during a post-match interview after Juventus’s recent 2-2 draw against Lazio in Serie A.
Why did Spalletti kiss a reporter after Juventus 2-2 Lazio?
During the 2-2 draw between Juventus and Lazio, Teun Koopmeiners saw his opening goal ruled out by VAR due to Khephren Thuram standing in an offside position. There was also, however, an apparent foul on Juve’s Juan Cabal by Biancocelesti defender Mario Gila in the build-up, which refereeing analyst Luca Marelli argued should have been a penalty.
This led Spalletti to debate the technicalities of contact in the penalty area during his post-match interview after full-time.
“The referee can interpret it the way he wants, because the defender is imprudent when going into that sliding tackle, so he takes a risk. I am not here to say if it is a penalty or not. He could’ve run back onto the ball, but I would take a wider view,” Spalletti said.
“Everyone now goes to protest about the rules, but there is always an interpretation. The pressure of a step on foot, handball that nobody sees in the stadium but they zoom in with the camera, it is all open to interpretation. You cannot generalise that every contact is a penalty.”
Spalletti then turned back to an incident in a previous game against Atalanta when a penalty was awarded for handball that even Ederson, who had made the cross, hadn’t noticed.
“I never talked about referees when decisions went against me or in favour. In the game against Atalanta the VAR called the referee to view the handball a minute and a half later, when nobody including Raffaele Palladino who was right next to me on the touchline, had any idea what this was even for.
“The rules are too rigid right now, it is the rigidity that I find to be the problem. If nobody even realises it hit a hand, who is damaged by that? The analysts keep saying ‘there was contact,’ but that doesn’t mean anything, does it? May I kiss you, here, this is contact,” said Spalletti when giving the female interviewer, Zille, a peck on the cheek.
Luciano Spalletti ha stupito tutti quando dopo la partita Juve-Lazio ha dato un bacio a sorpresa alla giornalista di Dazn Federica Zille. Il tecnico bianconero voleva mettere a tema l’entità dei contatti in occasione dei rigori. Ha chiesto alla sua intervistatrice se poteva… pic.twitter.com/nTjFhdyWZE
— La Stampa (@LaStampa) February 9, 2026
“It’s about context, contact is not the same thing as impact. There will always be difficulty if there are rules where every touch of the hand is a penalty, every step on foot is a penalty. This is what VAR is for, you can evaluate the context in its totality.
“If we stick to the rules, then that is definitely a penalty, because Gila goes into a sliding tackle and takes responsibility for that gesture when he doesn’t get the ball.”
Zille defends Spalletti after TV kiss: ‘Exaggerated’
Zille, who was on duty with DAZN for the Juventus-Lazio match, has since come out to defend Spalletti, following some accusations of improper behaviour during his post-match interview.
Speaking to FantacalcioTV (via corriere.it), Zille said: “There was no kind of malice in Spalletti’s gesture. He wanted to exemplify what he was saying, that there is a difference between contact and impact.
“I know Spalletti. Many say ‘he wouldn’t have done that had it been a man’. No, he probably would have touched or nudged a man to say that it was just contact and not a foul.
“I wouldn’t like for people to talk about malice or a lack of respect in this situation, for me as a woman, as a journalist or as a professional.
“I’ve read comments which have mentioned the word ‘harassment’. I’ve found that to be really exaggerated, perhaps even incorrect because harassment is a serious topic. And as a woman, I feel strongly about this issue, but that’s all the more reason to have clarity of mind and give the right balance to this sort of thing.”