Referee Daniele Doveri frustrated Juventus and Thiago Motta, who appealed for an indirect free kick inside the box when Elia Caprile picked the ball from Mathias Olivera in the second half.
Juventus appealed for an indirect free kick inside the box in the second half of their home Serie A game against Napoli on Saturday.
Napoli keeper Caprile caught the ball with his hands after an Olivera back-pass, but the referee ruled it was not intentional.
Denied indirect free kick inside the box infuriates Juventus against Napoli
Juventus players and fans vehemently protested, and the same is true of their coach, Thiago Motta, who received a yellow card for dissent.
DAZN referee pundit Luca Marelli agreed that Juventus should have received an indirect free kick from inside the box.
“It was an intentional back-pass, oriented towards the goalkeeper, so the referee should have given an indirect free kick to Juventus,” said the former Serie A official, as quoted by Ilbianconero.com.
Journalist Maurizio Russo wrote on X that Olivera wanted to pass the ball to Alessandro Buongiorno, so it was effectively an unintentional back-pass to Caprile.
Surely, VAR could not help the referee as it cannot intervene in such situations, as per protocol.