On the DAZN show, refereeing officials praised the performance of the referees and VAR officials in both the Atalanta-Roma match and the Piccoli-Baschirotto incident at the Franchi Stadium

Former referee and head of institutional relations for CAN A and B, Andrea De Marco, shed light on the most controversial incidents of Matchday 18 of Serie A during “Open VAR,” DAZN’s dedicated program. It emerged that Scalvini’s goal in Atalanta vs. Roma should have been allowed: therefore, as explained by De Marco, referee Fabbri made the correct on-field decision. “A very thorough analysis was conducted; we must commend VAR official Maresca and AVAR official Paolo,” explained the representative from The Hague. First, whether Scalvini had struck the ball with his arm; in that case, the goal would clearly have been disallowed. Upon reviewing the video, they examined the entire sequence of the play, and there is no evidence that the player touched the ball with his hand or arm; therefore, in this instance, no foul was correctly called. Next, they analyzed the contact: the Atalanta player first struck the ball, then—due to the momentum—the goalkeeper, who had lost his balance, collided with him. For this reason, the decision made was correct.”

As for the other disputed incident—namely, the goal disallowed against Scamacca—De Marco pointed out that “he was clearly offside when he intervened to challenge the Giallorossi defender for the ball, so the correct decision was to disallow the goal.” There was also clarity regarding the contact in the box between Piccoli and Baschirotto in the match between Fiorentina and Cremonese, which was initially ruled a penalty by La Penna and then reviewed with the assistance of VAR: “In the commission’s view, this was an excellent call; you can never award a penalty for this type of situation. They rightly pointed out to La Penna that there was a grab by the neck on Baschirotto, who then fell but did not commit a foul; he touched the Fiorentina player as a result of the fall, and play resumed with a free kick awarded to Cremonese. Piccoli, in order to get into position, also grabbed the jersey and then pulled the Cremonese player to the ground.”