VAR remains switched off in Serie A and referees have continued to make errors which have fueled controversy over the midweek round. Although Daniele Orsato's line was considered coherent, the lack of key interventions meant that many controversial decisions remained unchanged.
The most discussed case is that of the Venice-Inter match. The opening goal, scored by Luca Pairetto, came immediately after a foul by Carlos Augusto on Sohm, who did not touch the ball but hit the opponent. According to the rules, VAR should have intervened and called Pairetto to the monitor, but the referee did not do so. The episode was defined as the most obvious error of the day. On the contrary, the decisions on the two goals disallowed against Venezia were judged correct: the first was offside by a few centimeters, the second for an evident offside.
In the Turin-Como match, referee Giuseppe Collu allowed a penalty kick to continue which had been annulled by the VAR room. Bragança hit the opponent instead of the ball, but VAR did not intervene. In Parma‑Udinese, the situation was similar: Troilo's hold on Davis was overlooked, despite the clear violation. Here too the technology was considered inadequate.
Other referees demonstrated more accurate handling. Luca Zufferli managed the Sassuolo-Lazio match correctly, intervening on Cinquegrano's handball. Feliciani and Ghersini maintained control in Roma-Cagliari, while Luca Sacchi managed Milan-Bologna carefully, even if the contact between Pobega and Modric was considered borderline.
Other meetings had less controversy. Daniele Doveri managed Genoa-Juventus without significant errors, while Giovanni Ayroldi finished Monza-Napoli without major problems. The Frosinone-Lecce match raised doubts about the contact between Siebert and Kvernadze, which led to a penalty. Finally, in Fiorentina-Atalanta, referee Federico La Penna had to leave the match due to an injury to the fourth official.
In summary, VAR continues to fail to intervene in many key situations, while some referees have demonstrated good decision management. Next week we will see whether technology can finally make a difference in crucial championship decisions.