Juventusโ exciting start to the 2025-26 Serie A campaign faltered this weekend as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a determined Hellas Verona side at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Saturday.
Things were looking bright for the Old Lady with Francisco Conceicaoโs 19th-minute opener. However, this was cancelled out by a penalty from Gift Orban after Joao Mario was punished for a handball.
Considering this result ultimately saw the Turin side slip from atop Serie A after Napoli beat Pisa 3-2 on Monday evening, the spot-kickโs award has proven particularly contentious โ especially given the latest episode of โOpen VARโ on Dazn.
Referee designator for the first and second divisions, Gianluca Rocchi, addressed the handball, and suggested that he wouldnโt have given the penalty regarding the playerโs movement.
โThe decision is incorrect; for us, this isnโt a penalty. And I donโt think itโs correct to bring up another incident (in the audio, Gianluca Aureliano refers to last yearโs Atalanta-Udinese incident, Hienโs handball), which is similar but completely different. The dynamics here make the incident not punishable: thereโs a distance, I agree, but the player goes to try to head it and the ball slips off his arm, which is also coming back from its movement.โ
Orban was also involved in another incident in the game as he elbowed Federico Gatti but was never sent off.
GIFNย |ย Max Bradfield
