Rocchi: ‘Handanovic incident evaluated by referee’
Refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi defends the decision not to send off Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic against Sassuolo. ‘We must accept if the referee evaluates an incident differently even to the majority of people.’
The incident just before half-time in a game that the Nerazzurri eventually won continues to stir controversy.
Handanovic rushed outside his box, realised he was too late to anticipate Gregoire Defrel and tried to pull out of the clash, but they still made contact as they crossed paths.
Luca Pairetto opted to wave play on, as a free kick would’ve inevitably also been a red card offence, while VAR also did not intervene.
“It was the subjective interpretation of the referee,” designator Rocchi told reporters at the introduction of the new VAR centre.
He also rejected any suggestion that VAR had suggested Pairetto go back and view it again, but was ignored.
“It’d be crazy even to think that a referee would refuse to go to the VAR monitor. If that were to be the case, that referee would never work again.
“There are some incidents in football where the subjective interpretation of the official is paramount and we must accept it if the referee evaluates an incident differently even to the majority of people.”
As for whether the Handanovic incident on Defrel represented a clear and obvious error, Rocchi reiterated this is “a subjective situation, so the referee must be allowed to rely on his interpretation on the field.”
There is possibly some change in the way that penalties are awarded, as Rocchi noted they have “asked officials to keep a very high standard for what represents a penalty. We want only very serious penalties.”
Caso Handanovic, Rocchi difende l’arbitro: ‘Va lasciata l’interpretazione’ https://t.co/JY6wcFAKf4 pic.twitter.com/C5x3NgUn1o
— ilbianconero (@ilbianconerocom) October 4, 2021