There was huge controversy in the opening moments of Sampdoria’s match against Napoli, as a very harsh penalty was awarded that appeared to use VAR in a misleading fashion.
Napoli midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa ran into the box and slipped, losing his balance.
After he had fallen into the path of Nicola Murru, the Samp defender accidentally trod on his ankle.
There did not appear to be any foul, but VAR official Paolo Valeri still called on the referee to view it again on the pitch-side monitor.
The footage they replayed for Rosario Abisso only included the ‘stamp’ on the ankle, not how Anguissa had ended up on the turf in the first place, so was a misleading interpretation of the situation.
With only this to go on, the referee opted for a penalty.
Emil Audero did the rest, fingertipping Matteo Politano’s spot-kick on to the upright.
Dreadful refereeing. Have a look at the stats since VAR was introduced and see what team has had the most favourable calls for them and also who has had the least VAR decisions against them.