Head of Serie A referee coordination: Milan’s 2-1 Fiorentina penalty kick should not have been awarded and will be avoided in the future

In the regular program of "Open VAR", former referee and current Serie A and Serie B referee coordination head (responsible for management, coordination and supervision) Andrea Demarco analyzed in detail the penalty call caused by Parisi's foul in the 81st minute of Milan's 2-1 Fiorentina game.

Is VAR’s intervention reasonable?

"In this case, Marinelli (the referee) has accurately judged the situation on the field, and VAR should not intervene. Because this is the judgment on the field at the time, and this is the referee's judgment."

Is this a penalty kick, or can the tug be interpreted as normal contact?

"It can be said that according to the penalty kick standards promoted by Rocchi (Chairman of the Italian Football Association Referees Committee) this season, a penalty kick should not have been awarded in this situation. But if the referee feels that the opponent's intensity from the field is enough to award a penalty kick, and the referee awards a penalty kick on the field at that time, then VAR should not intervene (In the case of this game, the referee did not call a penalty kick at the beginning, but VAR changed the decision after intervention). So this is a decision that the referee should make on the field. For this kind of action, VAR should not intervene regardless of whether the referee calls a penalty kick. "

Is it an exaggeration for S-Jimenez to fall to the ground?

"He did have an exaggerated motion of going down, and I think we've seen a lot of players behave that way this season, where just being touched a little bit, it's like a hard hit. I think Rocky made it very clear and stern at the beginning of the season, and even now they are looking at future measures for this situation, because there should be maximum respect on the field, and this kind of recurring situation should be eliminated. This kind of thing should not happen."

Will this set a precedent?

"Absolutely not. In fact, starting from next Sunday, the referee will deal with this issue strictly, which means that the referee will try to avoid similar situations from happening."

Marinelli did not firmly maintain the original no-penalty call

"When called to the VAR TV for review When checking, the referee needs to consider that this incident may be more serious than it seems. In this case, this should not be a penalty, but the referee made this judgment. "

Regarding a similar situation in the Juventus-Inter Milan game, the confrontation between K-Thuram and Bony was also a similar situation, but the referee believed that. It's not a foul, the goal is valid.

"The two incidents are very similar. In the game between Juventus and Inter Milan, the referee did not make a penalty on the field, and VAR did not intervene. A similar situation occurred in the game between Milan and Fiorentina, but in that case, VAR should not have intervened."

About S-Jimenez's additional action of kicking Ranieri

"He did have a kicking action. It was not a violent act, more like an action of a Milan player trying to get rid of the defense. This action was not punished as a foul. So it was right to let the game continue."