Referee designator Nicola Rizzoli says the objective of VAR ‘isn’t to eliminate controversy but rather the big and glaring errors’.
VAR debuted to a mixed reception in Serie A over the past season, with Rizzoli admitting the technology had made 16-18 mistakes, but the 46-year-old insisted it would be wrong for polemics to be removed from Italian football.
Referee designator Nicola Rizzoli says the objective of VAR ‘isn’t to eliminate controversy but rather the big and glaring errors’.
VAR debuted to a mixed reception in Serie A over the past season, with Rizzoli admitting the technology had made 16-18 mistakes, but the 46-year-old insisted it would be wrong for polemics to be removed from Italian football.
“The objective isn’t to eliminate controversy but rather the big and glaring errors and not all the situations that leave room for interpretation,” he explained at the University of Naples Federico II.
“That’s because controversy is part of Italian culture and sport. It’s what gives sport its beauty. We’re all fans, Coaches and referees. The objective is to eliminate errors.
“How has VAR fared? Well. I’m extremely happy with it, especially for its future prospects because there’s certainly vast room for improvement, and we can and must work harder.
“We have things to improve on, but we’re extremely happy and happy for the future. Post-match interviews? I don’t think they’re possible because the regulation doesn’t allow them.
"We must wait for the sports judge to issue his verdict before talking about it. The objective even now is to be able to communicate a little more and better understand what situations there are and how they’re interpreted.”