In the DAZN broadcast, the refereeing authorities approved the work of the referees and VAR both in Atalanta-Roma and on the Piccoli-Baschirotto contact at the Franchi.

Former referee and head of institutional relations Can A and B, Andrea De Marco, shed light on the most controversial incidents of the 18th matchday of Serie A during Open VAR, the dedicated DAZN program. It emerged that Scalvini’s goal in Atalanta-Roma was valid: therefore, according to De Marco, referee Fabbri made the correct decision on the pitch. “A very thorough analysis was carried out, and VAR Maresca and Avar Paolo deserve praise. There were two aspects to evaluate,” explained the representative of the AIA. First, whether Scalvini had hit the ball with his arm, in which case the goal would clearly have been disallowed. The video focuses on the whole dynamic of the action and there is no evidence that the player touched the ball with his hand or arm, so in this case, no foul was correctly assessed. Then they analyze the contact: the Atalanta player hits the ball first, then, due to the dynamics of the play, the goalkeeper, who is off balance, collides with him. For this reason, the decision made is correct.”

As for the other controversial incident, namely Scamacca’s disallowed goal, De Marco pointed out that “he is clearly offside when he challenges the Giallorossi defender for the ball, so the correct decision is to disallow the goal.” There was also clarity on the contact in the area between Piccoli and Baschirotto in the match between Fiorentina and Cremonese, which was initially assessed as a penalty by La Penna and then reviewed with the support of VAR: “For the committee, this is an excellent call; you can never give a penalty for this type of situation. They rightly show La Penna that there is a hold on Baschirotto’s neck, who then falls but does not commit a foul. He touches the Fiorentina player as a result of the fall, and play is then resumed with a free kick in favor of Cremonese. Piccoli also grabs the shirt to take up position and then brings the Cremonese player to the ground.”