There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the penalty decision in Sunday’s derby, and now the transcript of the discussion between officials is out.
As happens every Tuesday, DAZN released a new episode of ‘Open VAR’ a program analysing some refereeing incidents from the most recent matchday of Serie A. Among them was the penalty awarded to Inter in Sunday’s derby against Milan, which has divided the opinion of experts.
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In the 71st minute, the VAR chief Aureliano called referee Simone Sozza over to the monitor. After reviewing contact in the penalty area between Pavlovic and Thuram, he awarded a penalty to the Nerazzurri. Other incidents – like a Lautaro elbow and Acerbi hair-pull – went unpunished.
The conversation between the match official and the VAR room has emerged as part of the Open VAR programme and it reveals word for word what was said to reach the eventual decision. The dialogue been relayed by MilanNews.
Aureliano (VAR): “For me, this is a penalty. Let’s review… yes, it’s very clear. Simo, I recommend an OFR [On-Field Review] for a possible penalty in favour of Inter.”
Sozza arrives at the monitor.
Aureliano: “I’ll start from the point of contact and then send it to you in dynamics. It’s a reckless challenge by number 31 Pavlovic.”
Sozza: “The tackle is fine. We’ll see at normal speed. Penalty is fine.”
Aureliano: “It’s number 31 Pavlovic. It’s a reckless challenge.”
Present in the DAZN studio, referee designator Gianluca Rocchi commented on the incident and gave his thoughts on how the referee and the VAR room eventually reached their call.
“We intervene with the OFR when the foul is reckless. The VAR is right to call the referee who then decides independently. It is a challenge worthy of a yellow card and rightly so, a penalty and a yellow card are awarded,” he said.
“Otherwise, if it were a normal contract on the ball being passed, we would not have intervened, it would not even be a penalty. The recklessness, let’s say the intensity of the foul that warrants a yellow card, leads us to issue an OFR, otherwise every contact would be a penalty and that is not the case.
The fact that Thuram had already crossed and the contact came later doesn’t change anything. Last year we had a similar incident in Fiorentina-Lazio and we awarded a penalty. This year, however, we missed a penalty in Lazio-Juventus and we said clearly that it was a penalty.
“Sometimes we make mistakes, but it’s not like if we miss a penalty then the others are mistakes. This type of intervention that involves recklessness is considered a penalty for us.”
it was a non-sense call from the VAR. the ball was already gone – anything after that doesnt lead to a penalty. they could ask the ref to the monitor if it was for checking a red card. but that was far away from a red, so there was no reason to intervene.
on the other hand they kept quiet when Acerbi pulled Leaos hair, for me its like a slap in the face, clear unsportsmanlike conduct, and i think it was even in the box.
u right
Grow up, it was a penalty as clear as day.
“it was a non-sense call from the VAR. the ball was already gone – anything after that doesnt lead to a penalty.”
So… It’s OK to kick the opponent after he has already kicked the ball, eh? It’s not how the rules work. 🙂
i agree it given a Yellow, but also Acerbi deserve a yellow and PK
Acerbi deserved red. Pulling opponents hair is a red card offense. Every. Single. Time.
The absence of the ball at the time of the contact invalidated the whole conversation. Never a penalty. Period.
I don’t understand how two different incidents went unpunished.
1. Acerbi hair pull on Leao.
2. Chivu interfering with play to block Rabiot from taking a quick throw in.
Both should have been red cards.
Lautaro one for me is more of a grey area. But typically you see players get in trouble for accidental elbows. Often they look like farcical calls as the player receives an elbow to their upper body and pretends it got them in the face.
Here Gabbia gets a blood nose and not even a free kick.
I agree, should have been at least yellow cards and even red.
everyone criticises players when they go down after minimal touches etc. but refs actually force them to do so. VAR would not have intervened if Thuram wasnt staying on the ground for over a minute. If Lautaro had Leaos hair and someone pulls it, he’d go down and ref would show straight red. If Rabiot + bench would have heavily complained about Chivu, he would have been sent to the stands.
This!
The same thing happened to Foden in the Man City vs Newcastle match and it was not given because the ball had already left his feet.
Same? Pavlovic stepped on his foot with full weight. Foden got barely touched by Schar. How can you be so delusional? It is sad.
VAR sees all of this as “clear” but let’s other incidents go unpunished
The penalty is as clear as day and I’ve said to you that Pavlovic will be at fault for stupid penalties and stupid red cards. He always did this, he is reckless and Milan will keep being punished for his reckless attitude that he will never get out of him. It is his personality. But people need to grow up and stop whining that every penalty against Milan isn’t one and every touch in the box on Milan player is a penalty. Some of you even wrote that Estupinan didn’t deserve a red card and a bunch more stupid things. You aren’t the man if you whine for the referee to give a penalty when it isn’t. You’re a little bi*ch. It was a penalty, the referee made mistakes against Milan in this game but the penalty wasn’t one. Nobody with an IQ over 70 and working eyes can say this isn’t a penalty. If you do, well, I wish you all the luck, you need it…