President of the Referees’ Association Marcello Nicchi confirmed Serie A will scrap goal-line officials if VAR is introduced and is “disappointed” at recent errors.
The AIA chief spoke to La Domenica Sportiva this evening and was shown the footage of the non-existent penalty awarded in Sampdoria’s 3-1 win over Bologna.
President of the Referees’ Association Marcello Nicchi confirmed Serie A will scrap goal-line officials if VAR is introduced and is “disappointed” at recent errors.
The AIA chief spoke to La Domenica Sportiva this evening and was shown the footage of the non-existent penalty awarded in Sampdoria’s 3-1 win over Bologna.
“The images are clear, we’re disappointed at these errors. We’ll try to evaluate them and, like every team, try to work on those areas that need improvement,” said Nicchi.
“I support VAR and hope this technology can be implemented soon, that way we can start talking about something concrete. At that stage we’d also remove the additional officials, as they’ll be no reason for them to still exist.
“There is a protocol between the referee and the goal-line official. In this case, the linesman alerted them to the handball. The referee probably felt ‘protected’ in making the call when the official backed him.”
Nicchi also ruled on another penalty incident today, as Mohamed Salah went down under a soft challenge for a spot-kick that Edin Dzeko eventually missed in Roma’s win over Crotone.
“That was not a penalty. I am not here to hide or to hide anyone else’s errors, we are here to discuss what is happening. It’s not right if we talk about certain clubs getting favourable treatment, you just have to look at the statistics. Maybe at one point in time it did, but absolutely not now.
“You can see everything with TV footage now, you can’t hide behind the idea of favouritism. We tell the young referees it’s better to make an extra mistake, the important thing is to be decisive.”
Nicchi was naturally asked about the on-going controversy following the Derby d’Italia last week, as Inter repeatedly complained about refereeing decisions favouring Juventus.
“The referee is on the pitch and rules based on what he sees. At times what you see on the pitch is different to what you might see at home or through a camera lens. There could be anything and there could be nothing.
“I don’t think (Gary) Medel made a deliberate handball, so that’s not a penalty. The (Mario) Mandzukic tackle on (Mauro) Icardi was also, in my view, not a penalty. I get the feeling Icardi thought so too, as he was asking for a corner when he got up.”
When it comes to shirt-tugging, such as Stephan Lichtsteiner on Danilo D’Ambrosio, so much now comes down to interpretation.
“If you find a referee who’ll give you a penalty for that, you’ll take it,” said Nicchi. “It can be given. We are talking about Nicola Rizzoli, a world class referee and a great person. It’s time to put an end to all this controversy, as it’s not helping anyone.
“People have overshadowed what was a great game of football and forgotten all about it. Hardly anyone talked about the game itself.”
Icardi received a two-match ban for kicking the ball just past the referee's head at the final whistle.
"He was lucky, because if that ball had hit the referee, he'd have had a much heavier ban," noted Nicchi. "Adrenaline makes people do silly things."