"How wonderful a match without VAR..." Gian Piero Gasperini's words capture the growing discontent in Serie A, where the technology introduced to reduce refereeing errors has become the focus of almost daily controversy. Coaches, managers, and fans dispute interpretations and interventions, while the closeness of matches amplifies each controversial incident.
The latest case concerns the penalty that decided the Genoa-Napoli match. "It absolutely wasn't a foul," admitted Dino Tommasi, a member of the Can, speaking on "Open VAR." "Cornet touched his foot, but it was an accidental graze. The foul must be clear. There's no step-on-foot pattern. It's a misjudgment we made. It was also a mistake to call Massa to the monitor." This double admission reopens the debate not only on the final decision, but also on the very advisability of a video review.
While Daniele De Rossi had initially expanded the discussion to the system as a whole, warning that "we are granting very dangerous power," Genoa welcomed the AIA's comments as "a sign of intellectual honesty and professionalism," while also calling for "clear and uniform guidelines." Tommasi emphasized this very point, reiterating that "VAR doesn't decide; VAR proposes a review and the referee decides," emphasizing the need to preserve the centrality of the match official.
The same principle was invoked for other incidents, such as the Bologna-Parma match, where monitor reviews led to a yellow card being changed to a red card and an own goal being disallowed for active offside. "It's something we're working hard on: giving the referee the central role in the final decision," Tommasi reiterated. Meanwhile, while a balance is being sought between technology and the pitch, the feeling is that VAR, created to quell controversy, continues to fuel it.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
It's a bit strange that VAR is always being discussed. I think it ultimately serves little purpose if there aren't clear rules. Referees also need to be more clear about what decisions to make during matches to avoid confusion.