Floriana FC president Riccardo Gaucci has renewed his criticism of the refereeing sector in Malta, claiming that his team are being repeatedly punished by poor officiating decisions.

Gaucci’s latest outburst comes after Floriana were denied what they claimed were two legitimate penalty appeals in their 1-1 draw with Ħamrun Spartans in a BOV Premier League match.

Their grievances stem from two incidents in Monday’s combative encounter at Ta’ Qali.

Spartans defender Jorginho appeared to block Mario Fontanella’s acrobatic volley with his left hand while Ryan Camenzuli’s shot came off Philip Chircop’s right arm, but referee Philip Farrugia allowed play to continue.

To rub salt into Floriana’s wounds, Jake Grech had put Ħamrun ahead from the spot on the half-hour after they were awarded a penalty for a handling infringement by the Floriana ‘wall’ during a free-kick action.

Gaucci insisted that he had no complaints about the Spartans’ penalty award but added that the referee should have used the same yardstick when deciding on Floriana’s appeals.

“I’m very frustrated and angry,” Gaucci told Times of Malta yesterday.

“In our game against Ħamrun Spartans, we had two legitimate penalties but, strangely, both were not given.

“The penalty awarded to Ħamrun was clear, I have no qualms about it, but it’s as if our penalty claims did not even exist. It’s incredible… a two weights, two measures approach as far as Floriana are concerned.

“We have been undermined by poor refereeing decisions.

“This was a game that could have lifted us to second place in the standings but we were denied victory by those calls.

“This is not the first time that we have been penalised by wrong calls from the match officials and it’s just not fair.

“If the people in charge of referees can’t guarantee consistency, they should step aside.”

Gaucci said that, after the game, a Ħamrun player admitted to him that Floriana had been denied two limpid penalties.

“A Ħamrun Spartans player – of course I’m not divulging his name – came up to me at the end of the match,” the Floriana FC president said.

“He told me ‘you had two clear penalties today’.”

The outspoken Italian, who took over the Floriana FC presidency in 2014, said that he can’t remain passive in the face of such injustices.

Gaucci posted photos on his Facebook page which, he argued, proved that Floriana’s penalty appeals were legitimate.

“I came here to see our team win,” Gaucci said.

“I’m doing a lot of sacrifices, working from day till night, but these episodes are ruining everything for us.

“I can’t stay silent and I’m not going to stop.

“I can only speak out about these situations… refereeing mistakes have cost us dearly in the last two seasons.”

Floriana had come into their clash with the Spartans on a high after their 2-0 victory over derby rivals Valletta last week but they made a sluggish start on Monday, falling behind to Grech’s penalty on the half-hour.

The complexion of the game changed in the second period as the Greens, buoyed by Nicolas Chiesa’s 49th-minute equaliser, pressed for a winner but their efforts fell short.

“We were a total disaster in the first half but the team produced a great performance in the second,” Gaucci said of Floriana’s showing against Ħamrun.

Floriana, level on 10 points with Valletta in third place, meet Old Firm rivals Sliema Wanderers on Saturday.