Referee Manganiello from Pinerolo, for the first time in Serie A, explained why VAR disallowed Castellanos’ goal

Minute 18 of Como-Lazio, the first day of the 2025-26 Serie A championship, August 24, 2025: a historic moment in its own way, because referee Gianluca Manganiello, from the Pinerolo (Turin) section, took the floor publicly to explain to the entire stadium why VAR had disallowed Castellanos’ goal. His voice is clear, firm, and decisive: “Following review, Lazio’s number 11 was offside. Final decision: offside.”

The Sinigaglia stadium obviously erupted in a roar (the away section with Lazio fans was decidedly more dejected), but regardless of who came out better or worse from the VAR review, the first step in this small but significant revolution has been taken. This is the most significant change in the new refereeing regulations, which referees have been training for a long time because, in this case too, there is no room for hesitation: explanations must be clear and firm. And so it was.