Refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi confirms Ruslan Malinovskyi deserved a red card for a reckless tackle on Kenan Yildiz in Genoa–Juventus and confirms Mattia Bani’s handball inside the box ‘could have been handled differently.’
Rocchi analysed the most controversial refereeing incidents from the latest Serie A round on Monday night.
Juventus were furious with referee Davide Massa on Friday as they felt Malinovskyi should have been sent off in the final minutes of their away meeting with Genoa for a high challenge on Kenan Yildiz.
“This round was better than the previous one. Aside from an incident in Genoa, it surely was a positive weekend,” Rocchi told DAZN, as quoted by Tuttosport.
“What we consider a serious error is the missed red card for Malinovskyi because I’ve asked the lads to be very harsh about these things. We can’t be soft with those who make dangerous challenges.”
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Juventus also appealed for a second penalty kick for a Bani handball inside the box. Federico Chiesa had given Juventus the lead in the first half from the spot.
There was a similar incident on Sunday night when Inter demanded a penalty kick for a Nicolò Casale handball in their away victory against Lazio. VAR and the referee also ignored Nerazzurri’s appeals.
“The other two incidents could have been handled differently,” said Rocchi.
“We’ll see them next week, but I don’t think those were clear errors like the missed red card for Genoa.”
Next week, DAZN will air the audio files from the VAR room for both incidents, so it will be clearer why Juventus and Inter were not given penalties.