“I don’t know what to say anymore, I can’t take it anymore. My football no longer exists.” Daniele De Rossi is a river in flood after the match that his Genoa lost 3-2 at home against Napoli. The match was decided by a penalty – dubious to say the least – which referee Massa awarded in full injury time due to a very light touch by Cornet on Vergara. The Napoli midfielder collapsed to the ground, the referee was called to the VAR and awarded the penalty, converted by Hojlund.
“We don’t know what to say anymore and this also applies to my colleagues”, says the Genoa coach. “We don’t know what a clear mistake is that would require VAR intervention, this episode isn’t. We don’t know if passing over the opponent’s foot is enough to cause a penalty or if a stomp is needed for the foul. We don’t know anything anymore, the football we played no longer exists”, says the coach.
“We have to tell the players to jump with their hands behind their back and to stay one meter away from the opponent. I don’t know anything anymore, I don’t even know what I’m training, what sport it is. If we don’t get a penalty like that, we protest: we all want to have an advantage from the distorted regulation that is transforming the game. In the end I thanked the referee and left…”.
