Referee designator Rizzoli blames Milan’s protests for Giacomelli’s shocker in Milan-Roma

Referee designator Nicola Rizzoli has suggested that AC Milan’s protests were the reason that Roma’s penalty was not overturned last Monday.

Referee Piero Giacomelli was slated in the media for his officiating display in Monday’s game, in which he game two baffling penalties and generally lost control of the game in the second half.

Pioli expressed his displeasure during the game and refused to comment afterwards on the decisions, but it has since emerged that both Giacomelli and the VAR chief Nasca will not officiate another Serie A game for at least a month, instead serving a suspension before beginning a stint in Serie B.

Rizzoli was a guest on Sky Italia on Sunday night and offered some interesting insight into the incident, as well as the penalty that Milan got not long after.

“Penalty for Roma? In that case it is the attacker who creates the contact, Bennacer anticipates the position correctly. The referee makes a wrong assessment, VAR had to intervene,” he said (via MilanLive).

“In that case, the referee was more busy managing the protests than talking to VAR. This lengthens the analysis time.

On the penalty that Milan were given, he added: “It was a game contact, a normal dynamic. If the defender doesn’t hit the attacker while he kicks, there can hardly be a penalty. Here VAR had to intervene.

We must not forget that football is a contact sport. Was it a compensation for the Bennacer-Pedro contact? Absolutely not, such a thought cannot be credible.”