Nicola Rizzoli, the man in charge of assigning match officials in Italy, has admitted that a big mistake was made during Inter’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta.
On the 39th minute of the match, Inter striker Lautaro Martinez grabbed the ankle of Rafa Toloi in the box but this went unnoticed both by the referee and the VAR official, Massimilliano Irrati.
“Gianluca Rocchi had a good game, if we exclude the Lautaro Martinez incident with Toloi. Rocchi and all referees are happy if VAR corrects errors,” he explained in an interview with Radio Anch’io Lo Sport.
“This was a human error though. The VAR official did not see malice in Lautaro Martinez’s intervention and that was a human error, so he got it wrong, not Rocchi.”
He then addressed suggestions in the media that Irrati will be penalised for his mistake by not being assigned for at least a round of fixtures.
“I do not like talking about taking people out of the loop. I decide based on who is in the best form. He certainly will not be stopped in a punitive manner. He just needs to rediscover his focus.”
