Daniele Orsato has backed Marco Di Bello over the goal that settled Genoa-Napoli, with Italy’s refereeing leadership maintaining that no error was made in allowing Kevin De Bruyne’s strike to stand.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Orsato had already formed that view inside the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening, and when challenged as he left the ground he responded: “Why, what happened?”
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The stance follows instructions Orsato gave officials at the summer gathering in Cascia, a deliberately high, almost permissive threshold for fouls and VAR interventions kept to a minimum, mirroring UEFA’s approach. Refereeing chiefs reiterated on Sunday morning that a whistle would not have been an error either.
Not everyone agrees, including some within CAN itself. Corriere notes that De Bruyne’s right arm did make contact with Johan Vasquez, and argues that with the roles reversed the incident would look closer to a penalty than a let-play.
Genoa coach Daniele De Rossi was scathing afterwards, calling it “one of the ugliest things I have suffered since I’ve been in football.”
