Nicola Rizzoli is confident referees will welcome video assistance, as “it’d be silly to think we were infallible.”
The use of video assistance for referees, known as VAR, will be experimented in Serie A over the next two seasons in two games per round.
However, the results will be kept offline and secret for the time being, as the methodology is still being tested.
It will also be limited to incidents regarding goal-line clearances, penalties and red cards.
Nicola Rizzoli is confident referees will welcome video assistance, as “it’d be silly to think we were infallible.”
The use of video assistance for referees, known as VAR, will be experimented in Serie A over the next two seasons in two games per round.
However, the results will be kept offline and secret for the time being, as the methodology is still being tested.
It will also be limited to incidents regarding goal-line clearances, penalties and red cards.
“We are all very curious and ready to experiment with the VAR, as it’d be silly to think we were infallible,” international referee Rizzoli told Sky Sport Italia.
“We do not view the introduction of technology in a negative way. It’s not in reality a slow-motion replay on the pitch, but rather technology that allows us to re-examine various situations and verify how applicable it is without transforming the dynamics of the sport.”
Serie A already introduced goal-line technology last year to great acclaim, something already used elsewhere in Europe, but Italy intend to be at the vanguard when it comes to VAR.
“This year people mustn’t expect anything from VAR, because it is all a behind the scenes in-depth study and only later will we see how to apply it,” continued Rizzoli.
“Last season there weren’t that many big controversies and this is to be deemed very positive. Of course, referees made some mistakes, but we should build on the positives and try to realise what prompted the errors.
“In Italy there needs to be more reciprocal respect. If we manage to take a step forward in that sense, and it is possible, then that will be very positive.”
There will also be a more lenient view of handball, which has to be voluntary and interrupting an important passage of play.