Revealed: why Orsato didn’t send off Pjanic despite possible VAR review

01 mag 2018

Daniele Orsato has found himself in the middle of a storm after Saturday’s Inter-Juventus. The bianconeri sealed a controversial 3-2 away win at San Siro and Orsato’s refereeing was harshly criticized by the majority of Italian football fans and media as well as Inter CEO Alessandro Antonello who said Orsato’s refereeing was ‘unacceptable’.

Italians are still arguing all over social media about Orsato’s decision. The most controversial one was not the red card shown to Vecino after 15 minutes in the first half but Miralem Pjanic’s second yellow card that was not shown to the Juventus midfielder in the second half for a clear foul on Rafinha.

Il Corriere dello Sport reveals why Pjanic wasn’t sent off despite the possibility of checking the action with VAR.

After Pjanic’s foul, VAR assistants Valeri and Giallatini told Orsato that the foul of the Juve star was not punishable with a straight red card. VAR, in fact, does not have the power of deciding whether a player should receive a yellow card or not but can only tell the referee if a foul deserves to be punished with a straight red card. Valeri and Giallatini’s intervention should have made Orsato understand that Pjanic’s should be booked for the second time in the game but the referee couldn’t get the suggestion and failed to show Pjanic a deserved second yellow card.