The Serie A championship begins under the sign of refereeing controversies. There will be a long discussion about the contact between De Bruyne and Vazquez before the Belgian's goal, which opened the way for Napoli to victory in the away match against Genoa. Big protests from the red and blues for a contact on the verge of a foul, but which was not punished by the referee Di Bello, while the VAR was silent about the assessment made on the field. If in real time an irrepressible Daniele De Rossi on the bench shouted: "You have to whistle it because it's a foul. Why don't you whistle it?", the red and blue club then complained strongly through the sporting director Diego Lopez.
Controversy over De Bruyne's foul on Vazquez that was not whistled in Genoa-Napoli
It was impossible for the Genoa management not to comment on that episode, which was so important from a repeated perspective, in terms of the result, that immediately after the match they went onto the pitch to ask the referee for an explanation, without receiving a response. The images are clear, with Vazquez trying to defend the ball and De Bruyne, after a "skillful" contact, visibly opening his arm, then taking advantage of the opponent's fall. No foul from the referee and a valid goal, to the anger of the home team.
Lopez furious, Genoa was afraid of Di Bello's refereeing
Lopez, analyzing what happened for Sky's microphones, is blunt and also mentions the past: "For the action, I think that today in football there are a lot of cameras, fortunately for us, and all of Italy saw what happened. It was a very clear action. There was some concern this week about the appointment of the referee. Within the club we have tried to remain calm, of course not to think too much about the VAR in Napoli at the last minute, not to think too much about the exclusion that was not given in Rome and to try to think about this match. I think the players showed what kind of team we are. Unfortunately, there are things that we are not getting into so far."
Unfortunate episodes with referee Di Bello
Going into the details of the episodes mentioned, Lopez was clearer: "This referee was also in the VAR in Naples, in the match against Napoli: 2-2 until the last minute, a penalty was not given by the referee. I will not reproduce the audio, but in the Open VAR they finally gave Genoa the right, admitting that it was a mistake. Roma-Genoa, a blow to the face that also leads to a goal, officially recognized as a mistake. This was the basis of our concern until today". In short, great sadness for a negative result and above all for the episodes. And not even the thought of an important performance makes the situation look positive: "Today there is no smile for anyone".
The sporting director's words enter the delicate debate on the criteria for evaluating contacts in the game at the beginning of the championship, preached by delegate Orsato: the AIA directive to "let the game continue" and to punish "light contacts" less risks creating gray areas when these contacts lead to assists or decisive goals. But are we sure that it was really that light?
