Gianluca Rocchi, present at the DAZN stadiums, commented on the penalty incident not given to Lazio against Milan:
"No doubt, it was not a penalty. This needed a fifteen-second check because it was not punishable. What surprises me is that the VAR moved in that direction right away and I do not understand what went through their heads. Maybe I was not clear enough, but when I say it is better to have one more OFR, I do not mean sending the referee to the monitor for every small doubt."
"Back to the incident, it is not a penalty, but it is also never a foul on the defender. A corner should have been given. I understand the anger from Lazio because if you do not give them a penalty, they would have accepted the corner immediately. No one can question the non-punishable nature of the handball, it is thirty centimeters, the player is in a challenge with the opponent. I also did not like hearing someone say the shot was on target. This changes nothing because the rules do not say that if a shot is on target then it is a penalty, and if it is not on target then it is not a penalty. It is either a penalty or it is not. The best solution was a corner. The situation was not handled well."
Rocchi added:
"I repeat the point, when a referee goes to the monitor he needs the conditions to work in the best way possible. If you put pressure on him before he reaches the monitor, the system does not work. The red card was correct, but I do not want to send coaches off. I want them to understand the difficulty of the decision and wait for the referee’s call. I understand we are in the 96th minute, there is stress and tension, but we must ensure the referee goes to the monitor calm because if he is not calm he does not decide well."
