‘VAR a total disgrace, it has moved problems onto a desk’ | OneFootball

Former Serie A winger Massimo Mauro strongly criticises ‘total disgrace’ VAR that ‘hasn’t improved’ the game, ‘it has simply moved the problems of the pitch onto a desk.’

Several referee incidents characterised the latest Serie A round. Como protested over a Federico Gatti handball in a match against Juventus.

Milan’s Fikayo Tomori received a second yellow card for a foul on Empoli’s Lorenzo Colombo, but VAR could not intervene as it was not a straight red.

On Monday, Inter scored from a corner kick against Fiorentina, but the ball had gone out in the build-up, so the Tuscans should have been awarded a goal kick instead. In the same game, Fiorentina equalised from a controversial penalty kick, awarded after a VAR check to punish a Matteo Darmian handball.

‘VAR a total disgrace, it has moved problems onto a desk’

Federico Gatti Juventus Como penalty

Massimo Mauro, a former winger for Napoli, Udinese and Juventus, strongly criticised VAR and its use in Tuesday’s weekly column for La Repubblica.

“In football, we have reached total disgrace. I’m talking about what happens on the pitch, what happens with VAR, what my former footballer colleagues say, and what journalists say and write,” Mauro wrote.

“After so many years since its introduction (going back to 2017), many finally realise that VAR does not improve the game of football, nor does it enhance the sense of justice. It has simply moved the problems of the pitch onto a desk. But football and sport can be unfair. There is a referee on the field: either he sees it, or he doesn’t. Everything else is nonsense.

“Offside decisions might be acceptable (though it’s already hard to accept when only the nose is beyond a defender), as well as goal-line technology, but let’s stop there,” continued the ex-winger.

“Otherwise, we’ll spend months discussing Gatti’s handball in Como without ever reaching a conclusion. P.S.: I think he did it on purpose, he was being clever.

“Linesmen have become useless and only create confusion. Just look at what happened in Empoli vs. Milan when Tomori was sent off because a two-meter offside by an Empoli player wasn’t immediately flagged.

“Let me make a comparison. It’s like healthcare: the patient is never the centre of attention, it’s always about the interests of this or that party.

“And in this case, the ‘patient’ is football. Players putting on theatrical performances and inability to reverse obvious incorrect decisions are something a true sportsman cannot tolerate.”

Mauro made 307 Serie A appearances in his career, scoring 14 goals. He won one Scudetto with Napoli and one with Juventus.