Referee correct on Fiorentina 1-1 Inter handball penalty appeal

The Italian Referees Association has confirmed it was the correct decision not to award a penalty for handball in Fiorentina 1-1 Inter, despite President Beppe Marotta’s assertion.

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The incident happened just nine minutes into the Serie A match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday, with Inter already 1-0 up.

The ball struck Fiorentina defender Marin Pongracic on the arm, but the referee and VAR waved away what were even at the time quite timid appeals.

Referees evaluate Fiorentina-Inter call

When he was called to speak on DAZN’s Open VAR programme to represent the AIA (Italian Referees’ Association), Mauro Tonolini was clear on the decision.

“The referee read it correctly on the field, as from an excellent viewing position, he appropriately evaluates the incident,” said Tonolini.

“The ball bounces in front of Pongracic, who tries to play it with his heel, then the contact happens with the arm, which is in a natural position for the movement he is making.

“It is absolutely not a situation that can be punished with handball and a penalty.”

The show also played audio of the discussion within the VAR booth between Fabio Maresca and Davide Massa.

“I agree, he tries to pull the arm away. The ball bounces, the dynamics say this is not a penalty. The ball changes direction when it bounces off the ground.”

Speaking to the media after the 1-1 draw that opened up the Scudetto race, Inter President Marotta had suggested a majority of television pundits thought this was a penalty.

“I read various pundits and experts who said the Marin Pongracic handling offence was a penalty,” insisted Marotta.

“We don’t want to act like victims here, we just want there to be uniformity in refereeing and evaluation, for the good of football as a whole.

“I generally believe that all clubs complain during the season, and overall errors balance each other out. I don’t want this to become an alibi, because this is sport and errors are always around the corner. We must be stronger than the refereeing errors.”

DAZN pundit Luca Marelli had made clear immediately he did not feel this was a spot-kick, while various others at best noted that this kind of handball had been given this season, so there needed to be more clarity in the rules.

The AIA also confirmed correct decisions were taken in Serie A last weekend to award a Juventus penalty for the Jay Idzes handling offence, and to Torino for Milan defender Strahinja Pavlovic grabbing Giovanni Simeone across the face.