In Serie A, the approach to VAR and penalty awarding has been changed

Representatives of Serie A clubs held a meeting with the Italian Referees Association, during which they discussed changes in refereeing approaches. The main attention was paid to the work of VAR, the interpretation of contacts between football players and the awarding of penalties. According to Football Italia, referees are advised not to stop the match for every minor contact and not to award free kicks for minimal infringements. Special emphasis is placed on situations in the penalty area, where judges are advised to more carefully evaluate the nature of the contact. At the same time, when watching episodes, you should not rely exclusively on slow-motion replays. The referees must take into account the speed of movement of the players and the force of the contact when assessing the situation in the context of the episode. The VAR, in turn, should intervene only when there is an obvious and significant error by the referee. This approach should reduce the number of stoppages and make matches more dynamic. Even before the start of the season, referees were instructed to allow teams to play more and not to record controversial violations without sufficient grounds. Special attention is paid to the fight in the penalty area and the number of penalties awarded. The statistics of the first 50 matches of the championship were indicative - during this period the referees awarded only five penalty kicks. Serie A president Ezio Simonelli noted that the new approach has already had a positive effect on the indicator of active playing time. At the same time, the functionary admitted that some aspects of the new system still need further development.