Inter confronted referee Maurizio Mariani after their 1-1 draw with Juventus at the San Siro yesterday, asking for an explanation of the VAR penalty awarded to the Bianconeri which saw the match finish level.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that the players and staff of the Nerazzurri were civil in their demeanour but clearly voiced their frustration with the incident which they considered inconsistent.
There appeared to be contact between Inter wing-back Denzel Dumfries and Juventus left-back Alex Sandro on the edge of the penalty area, but Mariani initially did not see the incident as a penalty.
However, the VAR advised the referee to take another look at the challenge and upon reviewing it he decided that there was in fact enough contact to award a penalty, with the Bianconeri equalizing from the ensuing spot kick.
For the Inter players and staff this was frustrating because they had seen similar incidents not go to VAR, including as recently as in the previous Serie A kickoff between Roma and Napoli when Partenopei midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa appeared to be brought down in the area but neither the on-pitch official nor VAR deemed it worthy of a penalty.
For the Nerazzurri, this looked to be inconsistent given that there didn’t appear to be any more in Dumfries’s challenge on Sandro, and they sought an explanation from Mariani as to why this incident was worthy of a VAR penalty.
