Rocchi: Mkhitaryan-Di Lorenzo not a penalty, Bindoni to blame – VAR round-up | OneFootball

As every week, Gianluca Rocchi, the Serie A referees’ chief, analyzed the most debated incidents of the eighth matchday on Open Var on Dazn.

Rocchi explains the Mkhitaryan-Di Lorenzo incident: “It’s not a penalty, Bindoni is mainly responsible” – All the VAR cases from Serie A’s 8th matchday

The most hotly debated case was certainly the penalty awarded to Napoli for the contact between Mkhitaryan and Di Lorenzo during Inter–Napoli, a decision that sparked strong controversy.

Rocchi explained that the mistake was not so much in the technical judgment, but in the procedure followed by the match officials:

“It’s a very particular episode where we found a procedural problem. The referee may not have seen it, but in this case he should have communicated with the VAR, not with the assistant. After speaking with Mariani, I had the feeling that there was too much interference from Bindoni, who went beyond the instructions he had received.”

The chief then clarified the chain of responsibility:

“It’s not a penalty and we would have expected an on-field review. On a scale of responsibility, I assign the greatest weight to assistant Bindoni, then to the referee, and finally to the VAR. The mistake stems from a faulty process, not from a single on-field incident.”

“We want clear penalties and consistent interventions”

Rocchi also criticized the behavior of the VAR room, highlighting the importance of standardizing intervention criteria:

“If there’s contact, you can intervene, but we want clear and obvious penalties. Penalties must have a high level of evidence, otherwise we risk altering the matches. This penalty is clearly below the threshold.”

The chief then added that if the decision had come “live” from Mariani on the field, it would have been more understandable.

“The problem arises from the procedure. If he had awarded it live, we would have accepted it more easily. As it is, we didn’t like the overall management at all.”

The VAR audio: communications between Mariani and the Lissone Room

During the broadcast, Open Var also aired the full audio between the referee, assistants, and VAR. From the communications, uncertainty and confusion emerge in evaluating the contact between Mkhitaryan and Di Lorenzo, with assistant Bindoni repeatedly insisting:

“It’s a penalty, Mauri, it’s a penalty!” while in the VAR room they try to verify the dynamics of the incident, eventually confirming the penalty.

Rocchi: “In Lazio-Juve, a penalty was missed for the Bianconeri”

Besides the Napoli-Inter case, Rocchi analyzed other key incidents from the matchday, such as Lazio–Juventus. On the contact between Gila and Conceição, the chief was clear:

“The VAR was not thorough. Not every step on foot is a penalty, there needs to be a real contest for the ball. In this case there was clear contact, we would have expected an on-field review and a penalty for Juventus. The VAR went too quickly in the review.”

Milan–Pisa: offsides, penalties, and correct decisions

Finally, Rocchi commented on the incidents from Milan–Pisa, confirming the validity of some refereeing decisions. On Leao’s goal, affected by Pavlovic’s offside position, the chief explained:

“We are moving towards a broader punishability near the goal area. In this case, Pavlovic’s position impacts the play: it’s a punishable offside.”

Athekame’s goal, on the other hand, was regular, and the awarding of the penalty for De Winter’s handball was also correct:

“The referee did well, distance is a decisive element in this type of assessment.”

On Pisa’s second goal, Rocchi ruled out a technical error:

“It was a fortuitous intervention on Gabbia, not for VAR. The decision not to intervene was correct.”

Rocchi: “We need more consistency and less protagonism”

The chief’s final message was clear:

“Assistants should only intervene on obvious incidents, they must not replace the referee. We need consistency, clear penalties, and a more careful and straightforward use of VAR. Procedural errors are more serious than on-field mistakes.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.