The penalty decision for AC Milan against Fiorentina has been a hot talking point, and now, the referees have confirmed that it was a wrong call.
Since Sunday night, a lot has been said about the penalty that Milan were awarded against Fiorentina. Considering how big the decision could be in the future, it was a heavy talking point, and even now, almost 48 hours on, the decision is still at the forefront of the media.
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Earlier today, the head of refereeing stated that the decision was wrong, but now further confirmation has arrived.
Official viewpoint arrives
Speaking on the DAZN Open VAR programme, which is a chance for referees to explain processes and review decisions, Andrea Di Marco spoke about the penalty in the Rossoneri’s game against La Viola, on behalf of the AIA, as relayed by Football Italia.
“In this case, Marinelli had evaluated the situation correctly on the field, and when the intensity is so small, the referee should be allowed to make that evaluation himself.
“With the threshold for penalties that Gianluca Rocchi is setting for this season, we would not give this as a penalty. If the referee had the sensation on the field that it was sufficient for a penalty, VAR would not have intervened to have it removed. Either way, this was a decision that was down to the referee.”
“Gimenez does make a meal of that, and we’ve seen a lot of this attitude from players this season, who, when they feel a slight touch, pretend they suffered a violent impact. Rocchi was very clear on this, and the commission is studying how we can punish situations like this, because there has to be respect on the field.
“This kind of behaviour needs to be eliminated from the game. You will see a definite clampdown on similar situations from next weekend.”
Considering there has been a mistake against the Diavolo relating to a penalty, perhaps they will feel like it is a fair decision with fate evening itself out. However, it certainly does not help towards the feelings that some will have towards VAR.
Going by that angle how can they make a determination on the impact? What if he caught Santi in the eye? Even the slightest touch in that area would illicit a big reaction. You put your hands on someone’s face, from behind, it should be a foul. End of.
“Gianluca Rocchi’s comments regarding the penalty awarded for an equally light hold on Lautaro Martinez in Inter-Udinese , matchday fifteen of the 2023/24 season: If the referee sees it on the pitch with the support of the assistant, we’d be happier. I put myself in the shoes of those who were at the monitor, they see a clear penalty image, they hear the referee making an assessment based on different bases and tools… When I asked Di Bello, “But what would you have done as VAR?” He told me he would have called the referee to the OFR. It’s not an individual’s choice, it’s the general philosophy.”
Why does he have a different opinion here then?
It was a penalty, the ref made a clear and obvious error and VAR was right to intervene. He cant have it both ways.
I can’t figure out what is going on with this? I watched the game – the defender hit gimenez in the face, the ref watch the replay and called a penalty… so what is the problem? The reaction got the penalty called, so if that is the issue then you have a rule issue regarding what a dive is, but how do you “prove” it was a dive?
IF the argument is regarding the “intensity” of the contact then we have HUGE problems. First – it was his eyes – it doesn’t take much contact to make ANY person panic, let alone someone running and full of adrenaline. Next, then what is the guidance, what is the scale of impact for the ref to refer to determine what a penalty is or is not? This remains pure speculation and the ref is still guessing.
The point is the same as asking a rape victim what they wore – the issue is the rape not the victim’s clothing… just as this is the player committing the foul is the issue – don’t slap people in the face and you wont have a problem. this is no more about the “amount of force” as rape is about the length of skirt
Serie A is dieing under it’s own stupidity
“There’s a saying in football I like a lot: ‘the winner celebrates, the loser explains” – Stefano Pioli.
i think it was mourinho
Arm extended with intention and it looked like the player raked the side of Santi’s face, and from behind.
I know we are Milan fans but this was a weak penalty call. It was minor contact and hard to tell if he even actually hit Gimenez in the face at all. From most angles it looks like some contact on the shoulder, and not all contact equals a foul. For VAR to intervene it needs to be clear and obvious mistake by the ref and I don’t think it reaches that level.
Penalties in general are given too often for things that don’t really impact the play at all. Penalties are such a game changing decision and they should not be given lightly. Gimenez was not getting to that ball and scoring their. This just encourages the diving and theatrics that really are not good for the game.
Having said that, Nkunku was fouled twice in the box earlier this season and nothing was called, so clearly VAR is not any better at getting these things right than the human officials on the pitch. SO they should just do away with it and let us enjoy the game the way we used to. If they are still going to make mistakes with VAR, then what is the point of it at all?
The only reasonable comment in this thread so far. Well said.
Pens in general are way too soft today and imo diving and even embellishment should be carded. We would get right back to having a beautiful game again.
I completely agree with you on the incident. But this VAR decisions we have every weekend, and now is blown out of proportions because we are involved.
So you’re allowed to touch someone’s face gently and it’s not a foul? Wtf. Makes zero sense lol
I’m not even sure he did touch his face. There are 3 or 4 angles where it doesn’t look like he touched his face and 1 angle where it looks like he may have but even that cannot be 100 percent sure. How is that “clear and obvious?”
Incidental contact that does not affect the outcome of the play should not result in a game changing decision. It’s silly to have games decided by such things no matter what side you are rooting for.
I feel the same way about a lot of these handball calls that result in penalties where it’s accidental and the ball was not even going towards the goal but it still results in a penalty. It ruins games. I think penalties should only be given when it directly affects a scoring opportunity.
So many games decided by these calls like accidental handballs or incidental contact on a player who’s on the edge of the box not even facing the goal.
They should a very clear hand smacking his face on paramount plus. Clear as day. Hand smacking and racking across his face. Clear as day. I agree penalties are given to easily these days but a foul is a foul. Fofana was called for the exact same thing
“I’m not even sure he did touch his face. ”
You don’t have to be. It happened though and it’s a penalty.
Yes its sports, things happen, be a man. Nobody was punched or elbowed.
So the only part of this statement and the ruling of this situation as an improper intervention by VAR *might be* that it wasn’t a “clear and obvious error”. However, replays show clear hand to face.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen hands to face whistled for a foul. So why are these whistled for fouls outside the box and then when it’s inside the box it’s not clear and obvious, or “soft”? My issue here is that authorities MUST CHOOSE CLEARLY what constitutes a foul and what doesn’t and if it’s a foul that would either lead to a red or a penalty then it should be easily a “clear and obvious” error if the referee doesn’t whistle for the foul.
What I hate most about the calls refs make is that there is always such a difference between what they consider a foul outside the box and then what’s considered a foul inside the box. It’s almost like they’re too afraid to whistle for the same foul inside the box because there is little to lose when they whistle for the same foul outside the box. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen fouls called outside the box and then the same foul happens inside the box and it’s not called.
So the rules must be made super clear. Obviously you can’t use VAR for every little foul NOT called OUTSIDE the box, but if it’s a foul by the letter of the law and it happens inside the box then it SHOULD BE a “clear and obvious” error that VAR can intervene on. This will also preclude the whole “soft foul” thing. When it comes down to a foul in the box, the letter of the law should stipulate whether it’s either a foul or not, regardless of whether the casual fan thinks its “soft”.
Exactly
“When it comes down to a foul in the box, the letter of the law should stipulate whether it’s either a foul or not, regardless of whether the casual fan thinks its “soft”.”
This. And also, the rule book doesn’t have a tick box for each foul with “did it happen inside/outside the penalty box”. The rules are pretty simple actually. It was a foul. Just like it was a few minutes earlier when Fofana did the exact same thing.
I have a question… if we had missed the awarded penalty would the media be still talking about this penalty saga?
Absolutely not. You right
There were wrong decisions in football for 130-140 years before VAR and guess what…it was fine! We shouted at the referee, talked about it on the way home, then accepted it was part of football and got on with our lives. All VAR has done has made us rake the coals of every decision for a full week until there is more coal to rake. Get rid of it entirely.
I don’t care if it was a penalty or not, it was awarded and we won.
The way penalties are called nowadays it was a clear penalty.
Well going by the 100 dodgy decisions we’ve had go against us the past few seasons I give zero fks…
This also. Some go against us, and some will go for us. So it somewhat balances out in the end. F-k Fiorentina. We got 3 points and we’re first. If the ref made a mistake then it’s for the league to sort out.
Well said! We’re still losing in the big picture when it comes to “dodgy” ref calls.
England owe their World Cup to incorrect decisions and they celebrate that. We have every right to not care 😂
This is all stupid talk. You hit someone in the face, and you claim it’s a minor impact. Is it until he blinded him that we would adjudge it as having big impact? If this type of contact is on the leg, I can understand but not with eye.
“With the threshold for penalties that Gianluca Rocchi is setting for this season, we would not give this as a penalty. If the referee had the sensation on the field that it was sufficient for a penalty, VAR would not have intervened to have it removed. Either way, this was a decision that was down to the referee.”
This coming weekend, when it’s 2-2 between Inter and Napoli, I hope that those teams gets into the same situation inside the box and the referees NOT call it then. Then we shall see what these hypocrites write in the papers when it happens.
Calcio media in Italy is all biased against Milan, it’s so obvious.
Just look at Referee Designator Gianluca Rocchi and his record against all teams since 2005/06:
Rocchi’s record for Milan (W-D-L): 10-11-17
Rocchi’s record for Juventus since 05/06 : 32-4-5
Rocchi’s record for Inter since 2006: 15-15-8
Rocchi’s record for Napoli since 05/06: 19-9-12
Rocchi’s record for Roma since 05/06: 18-12-15
Paramount showed the foul clear as day. They stopped showing it after the announcers seemed to think it was an obvious foul. Notice how they don’t show that image we all saw anymore? No saying things like VAR shouldn’t have intervened. Are you serious. AIA is already working hard to try and keep Juve in the CL race
Era rigore tutta la vita
So… When has it been OK to slap the opponent to his face and grab by the neck? And let’s not forget that Fofana got a yellow minutes for the exact same offense earlier. Just cut the BS: it was a penalty.
Parisi made no attempt at winning the ball, it was late and it was from behind. Was it the eye? The face? The neck? The shoulder? If none of the above, it was a dive. But it wasn’t, he was caught and it was a foul. The official says it should not have intervened either way bc it was not clear and obvious that it was or was not a foul. Now we have to type of fouls: a foul and a clear and obvious foul, how very confusing. Does the rule book have two definitions of every foul? I doubt it. In this case VAR becomes of no use, it just adds more clouds to the sky.
The refs have become lazy with their calls inside the penalty box. The VAR rule should be changed to “was it a foul or not?” instead of “was the referee wrong about his decision?”. It really CAN BE black & white here. Either it’s a foul or it isn’t. And this time is was. Just like Fofana’s slap earlier. It’s not worth going through this over and over again. Everyone should move on already. It was a penalty, it was given. Get over it! (Not you Milanwizz but the whiners) 🙂