Serie A referees confess to two major VAR errors in Week 26

LECCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 21: Lorenzo Lucca of Udinese scores a penalty during the Serie A match between Lecce and Udinese at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2025 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)

Representative of Serie A referees Antonio Damato confirms two major errors from the VAR this weekend that proved decisive in Lecce 0-1 Udinese and Parma 2-0 Bologna.

Every weekend, DAZN go through the footage from the Serie A fixtures on their Open VAR show with someone from the AIA (Italian Referees’ Association) to help explain and clarify the decisions made.

In this case, they were apologetic and forced to admit a series of mistakes in two games that could affect the relegation battle.

The first was the penalty that allowed Udinese to beat Lecce 1-0 at the Stadio Via del Mare, when Gaby Jean moved across Sandi Lovric and struck him on the face with an arm.

“It is not a penalty for us, so we consider the original decision to have been correct. Both players are going for the ball, the defender is trying to take a position and raises his arm a little, but not enough for a foul,” confirmed former referee Damato.

“In this case, the VAR considered the Lecce player’s move to be negligent, perhaps taken in by the fact that it struck the Udinese player on the face and it left him hurt, but they should’ve looked at the overall dynamics of the movement.”

The referee saw the footage only of the final contact, so should he have been shown the full movement of the two players to get a better idea of the situation?

“The VAR provides the images to give greater clarity, but the referee can also request another camera angle to get a different view. The referee considered this contact, from that camera, to be a foul and gave a penalty. However, as we said, the initial call was considered correct by us.”

Serie A sees two big VAR howlers

Another Serie A incident that caused controversy was the Parma penalty awarded for Sam Beukema’s handling offence, as the Bologna defender’s arm was in a natural position.

“As far as we are concerned, this too is not a penalty that should be given, as the movement, positioning and posture is natural, while there is a very small distance for him to react when the ball strikes him,” noted Damato.

There was another incident in the Parma victory over Bologna, as Matteo Cancellieri was already on a yellow card when he lunged sideways into Niccolò Cambiaghi’s ankle and the free kick was given, but not a second booking.

Damato confirms that “this was an error from the referee” who should’ve sent Cancellieri off, but VAR could not intervene because of the protocol on yellow cards.