Serie A referee Maurizio Mariani explained why VAR was right not to intervene after a ‘soft’ penalty awarded to Inter during their match 1-1 draw at home against Napoliexplaining at the same time why it was correct not to award the Nerazzurri another penalty after an apparent handball by the Partenopei.

Penalties and the use of VAR were in the spotlight after Sunday afternoon’s match at San Siro. Simone Inzaghi’s team received a penalty for a foul on Denzel Dumfries, much in the face of Antonio Conte’s angerbut Hakan Calhanoglu hit the post from 10 meters.

A second penalty was also awarded for the Nerazzurri after an apparent handball by Mathias Olivera in the Partenopei area. Lautaro Martínez challenged the Uruguayan in the middle, before the ball bounced and hit the Napoli full-back in the hand.

Mariani explains Inter’s controversial penalties against Napoli

Mariani explained after full time that Olivera’s hand was in a natural position and, given the speed of the incident, he considered that the defender did not have enough time to move his arm away, so the VAR was right not to intervene. or overturn the decision on the field.

Mariani also explained why it was “correct” for VAR not to intervene following the decision to award a Nerazzurri penalty following the foul on Dumfries, although many, including Conte, felt the penalty was soft.

“The penalty was awarded after slight contact between Anguissa and Dumfries. Mariani has a very good vision of this, which means that the VAR cannot intervene,” he said, reported via inter-news.it.

“In reality, given how slight the contact is, they are not incidents that deserve sanction. “I shouldn’t have whistled, Mariani probably saw the intensity of the situation differently.”