The president of the Italian Referees Association (AIA) praises Massimiliano Irrati, the head of the VAR team appointed to the World Cup final: "He helped Pitana make the right decision; I do not know what would have happened without that penalty kick". And he consoles Rocchi: "He was up there, but after Rizzoli four years ago..."
There was no Gianluca Rocchi to referee the final, to whom the Argentinian Pitana was preferred, but the Italian referees nevertheless made a decisive contribution during France - Croatia. Merit of Massimiliano Irrati, head of the VAR team designated for the conclusive act of the World Cup. For Marcello Nicchi, president of the Italian Referees Association, "Irrati saved the World Cup, he was the creator of a fundamental decision". The head of the Italian referees refers to the decision taken on the occasion of the penalty kick awarded to France in the first half, when Perisic touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area. Pitana first awarded a corner kick, then followed the indication of colleagues at the VAR, looked at the images and awarded the penalty kick. "Without that penalty kick to France I do not know what would have happened", underlines Nicchi at Radio Anch'io Sport of Radio1. Then he commented the exclusion of Rocchi: "For us, Rocchi was in the final, but FIFA will have made their evaluations and I would say that he did well. Rocchi did perfectly what he had to do, I felt it daily. He expected a little more, but he is very satisfied, one might say that in the end one was worth the other perhaps, but it is not so, we must respect the political operations, the various components and the various federations. Since another Italian, Rizzoli, refereed the last final, it was predictable that it could happen not to hit the target. To Rocchi cannot be attributed anything, I would have seen him well in place of Pitana". And he adds: "Our referees are the most sought-after in the world, we have an association that never reached this level".
The debate has already started on the possibility of establishing a single central "VAR room" also in Serie A, following the example of the World Cup. A hypothesis that, at least for the moment, does not seem to convince Nicchi: "It depends on the strategic and economic possibilities of the League. The last year we worked very well in the VAR room at the stadium: if they want to experiment with other systems is fine, but leave the certain for the uncertain". But Italy remains at the forefront: "We have reached these levels because the referees are a more important component than ever, for example without us there would never have been the VAR".
