Almost 24 hours after Napoli-Inter, the controversy over the penalty kick awarded to the Azzurri and, more generally, the entire refereeing performance has not subsided. The penalty for the contact between Mkhitaryan and Di Lorenzo has been judged by many experts and slow-motion analysts as too generous, and Inter fans are furious.
As highlighted in today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, it is likely that both the referee Maurizio Mariani and his assistant Daniele Bindoni will be suspended, and the two VAR officials are also at risk. This is the comment from the newspaper, which points out that even for the AIA there was no penalty:
“Referee Mariani made a mistake, assistant Bindoni even more so: this is the conclusion of the AIA leaders after reviewing last night’s Napoli-Inter. It was a mistake to suggest a penalty kick, which was a blunder by the first assistant […] The penalty does not exist, the contact is minimal and therefore should not be awarded. And the VAR? Mariani checks, completes the review, and leaves the on-field decision: he is the least responsible of all, but in any case, this is a penalty that should never be given.”
