Refereeing chief Dino Tommasi insists Milan coach Paulo Fonseca was wrong to protest so angrily at the Charles De Ketelaere goal for Atalanta. ‘It is absolutely a fair goal.’
There was controversy after Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Atalanta, as coach Fonseca protested furiously in his post-match interviews, claiming there was a “clear foul” from Charles De Ketelaere on Theo Hernandez when heading in the Marten de Roon free kick.
That was the opening goal and has caused a great deal of debate, with some pundits agreeing it was a foul and others insisting De Ketelaere simply jumped higher and earlier, so inevitably ended up with his hands on Hernandez’s back.
Considering the amount of attention that incident received, it was inevitable that DAZN’s television segment Open VAR would analyse it in detail, playing the audio of the Video Assistant Referees discussing it.
They said there was “absolutely nothing” because De Ketelaere “jumped much earlier” than his marker.
Refereeing Association back Atalanta-Milan interpretation
“It was an excellent performance from La Penna, because De Ketelaere jumps earlier than Theo. There is a slight lean on his back, but that is only after and as a result of him jumping first and higher.
“The VAR confirms that it is absolutely a fair goal and there is nothing wrong with it.”
The former players in the DAZN studio, Massimo Ambrosini, Marco Parolo and Ciro Ferrara, all agreed that Theo Hernandez was too passive and weak when jumping for the ball.
Fonseca now risks a ban after taking his protests too far, suggesting that the referee was “steering” the game in one direction and that there has been a “lack of respect” towards Milan throughout the season.
It was particularly galling because it came during a weekend where referees are wearing black marks on their faces to highlight the recent incidents of violence against officials in the amateur leagues.
Another incident that caused controversy was Pierre Kalulu of Juventus not receiving a red card when clipping the heels of Bologna’s Jens Odgaard running on goal.
The VAR discussing it confirmed it was a foul, but could not intervene to give a red card because the ball was beyond Odgaard and Mattia Perin was ready to gather it.
VAR can only intervene to give a red card for Denial of Goal-Scoring Opportunity, not a yellow.
“There are three out of four criteria here for the DOGSO, but not the fourth, he is not in possession of the ball,” confirmed Tommasi.
“The referee should’ve given a yellow card and a free kick on the pitch, but VAR cannot intervene for that. It is not part of the protocol.”
