Italian refereeing chief admits five VAR mistakes in 2026-27 season

Daniele Orsato, the official responsible for referee appointments in Serie A, has acknowledged five significant refereeing and technical errors during the 2026-27 season, including four in Serie A and one in the Coppa Italia.

The admissions came at a meeting in Milan between the Lega Serie A and representatives of all 20 clubs, where VAR officials reviewed footage from matches and explained how decisions had been reached.

The most recent error occurred during Juventus’ 2-0 Serie A victory over Atalanta. Orsato said VAR should have intervened to award Atalanta a penalty after Pierre Kalulu pulled the shirt of Jonathan Rowe, with Juventus leading 1-0 at the time.

He compared the incident with a Coppa Italia match between Fiorentina and Pisa, in which Matteo Pellegrino was pulled by Antonio Caracciolo. VAR did not intervene in that case either.

Fiorentina’s match against Frosinone contained two further errors. A penalty should have been awarded to Ilario Monterisi, while Alex Jimenez should have been sent off.

Orsato also said Milan should have received a penalty during their victory over Torino, after Nikola Vlasic’s handball was deemed worthy of a review on the pitch by the referee.

Despite objections from Como manager Cesc Fabregas during the meeting, Orsato maintained that Como midfielder Maxence Caqueret deserved a red card for his challenge on Parma’s Sasha Bricci.

Decisions upheld by Orsato

Orsato defended several other decisions that had attracted attention. He said Milan’s goal against Juventus was correctly allowed to stand, despite a challenge by Koni De Winter on Randal Kolo Muani at the start of the move.

He also said Roberto Gagliardini’s contact with Kohnan N’Dri during Cagliari’s match against Lecce did not warrant a penalty.

The meeting considered other contentious incidents, including Kevin De Bruyne’s push on Johan Vasquez during the attack that led to Napoli’s goal against Genoa, and Torbjorn Heggem’s challenge on Gaetano Oristanio in the recent match between Bologna and Torino.

Orsato explained that, in both situations, the referee had a clear view of what happened and the initial decision therefore stood.

VAR is intended to intervene only when there has been a clear and significant error by the referee, or when the official has not had a clear view of the incident.

Serie A needed 32 matches from the beginning of the season before its first penalty was awarded. That incident also led to the first on-field review by a referee using VAR.

The penalty followed warnings from the Italian referees’ association that changes would be made to the way matches were managed in 2026-27. Refereeing had faced criticism over frequent stoppages and penalties and red cards being awarded for incidents considered insufficiently serious.

Although Italian football relies heavily on VAR, the main criticism had been the excessive use of slow-motion replays and zoomed-in footage without properly considering the speed and intensity of the game.

The first 31 matches of the season passed without a penalty or a recommendation from VAR for an on-field review. In Genoa’s 1-1 draw with Frosinone, a handball occurred inside the penalty area but was not judged a clear and significant error requiring VAR intervention, particularly because the player’s hand had not moved clearly towards the ball.