Bologna director Claudio Fenucci and coach Thiago Motta were furious as neither referee nor VAR awarded a potential penalty kick to the Rossoblu in a 1-1 draw against Juventus on Sunday: ‘It’s crazy.’
The incident occurred in the second half, minutes before Dusan Vlahovic’s eventual equaliser. Samuel Iling-Junior collided with Swiss winger Dan Ndoye after a Mattia Perin save. The English winger prevented his opponent from getting on the ball, but neither referee Marco Di Bello nor the VAR official thought it was worthy of a penalty kick.
Thiago Motta and his staff members were furious on the touchline, and one of Motta’s assistants was sent off during the game.
Just to make things worse for the Rossoblu, Iling-Junior delivered the assist for Vlahovic’s equaliser.
Thiago Motta didn’t reply to a question about the incident during his post-match interview with DAZN.
On the other hand, Fenucci did talk about the referee’s decision. “We are here to talk about referees,” he said.
“I want to congratulate the lads, but an incredible referee error prevented us from winning. That was a penalty kick and red card. It wouldn’t have been an ordinary victory. VAR must improve, these incidents are crazy.
“A player taken down in front of the goalkeeper can only be a penalty and red card. It’s an unacceptable error in the technology era. We are embittered because we’ve been working on technology for years, but I can’t understand how nothing is made when things like this happen. It’s really crazy.”