The penalty that decided the match between Milan and Fiorentina considered an error by the referee and VAR. The reason? The fight against players who simulate or accentuate contact in the face for light shots
Parisi’s hand resting on Gimenez’s neck. It also grazes the face causing the Rossoneri attacker to fall two steps from the ball, in an ideal position to attempt the shot. The “crime” scene of Sunday football is contained in these few frames and in a review of a few minutes suggested by VAR Abisso to the field referee Marinelli; who had not conceded anything live and, after the walk to the video, opted for the penalty kick.
A decision that sent Fiorentina into a rage and which not even the refereeing leaders liked. It wasn’t a penalty kick, that’s the summary. The explanation is contained in the battle that the designer Gianluca Rocchi has opened with his men since the beginning of the season against players who simulate contact in the face, hoping that the VAR will intervene. Here, the hands brought by Gimenez to his face can be considered this: an accentuation of the effects of an extremely light blow which should not have been considered punishable.
This is the response that those responsible for relations with the clubs will give to an angry Fiorentina. It is impossible to accept that a typology now codified as “no foul”, with several precedents in this championship starting from the goal with which Juventus beat Inter at the last minute, has suddenly been overturned in perception. It is primarily the fault of those who were in the Var room in Lissone (Abisso) while Fiorentina also blames the referee Marinelli who did not have the strength to maintain the decision on the field.
The meaning of the position of the referees is clear: there is no room for “light” penalties, even more so if they are won with an attitude of accentuation or simulation of the effects of blows or swipes which are episodes on the pitch and must remain so. The line taken in recent months is valid, not the short circuit triggered by Abisso and Marinelli on the night at San Siro.
