Head of Italian referees: We did make many mistakes using VAR, it cannot replace referees

Not long ago, Italian referee director Rocchi accepted an interview with Italian Sky and talked about many topics.

About game net time

"A lot of new regulations have been added over the years, but we have also lost some things. In addition, there are more games now and the physical investment is greater. The trend this year is down compared to previous seasons, and this is a topic that needs to be communicated more with the team rather than between referees."

About The difference in pace between Serie A and the Champions League

"The quality of matches in the Champions League is higher, that's obvious. There are more exciting games and better officiating: if the game is going well, the referee will look professional. We don't want to call unnecessary fouls. The pace of the game is determined by the players, not the referee. But it is true that there are differences between the Champions League and our league "

" Will the game be interrupted too frequently? When people say that the number of fouls affects the actual game time, this is not entirely accurate. This can be seen from some games, especially games at the beginning of this season. Regarding stoppage time, it does not mean that extending stoppage time will definitely increase the actual game time. It depends on the team. ."

About diving

"If we talk about the referee, it is the young Zuferli who is still growing up in Turin, but the way the two teams play is different."

"This happens in all games, no matter which club or game it is. It's about over-exaggerating facial strikes, but if someone takes advantage of that and gets the referee to give a yellow card by mistake, it's counterproductive, especially for us referees, but there are consequences for the players as well, for example, diving doesn't just deceive the referee or the opponent, you deceive everyone. Can reverse this idea: the referee may have made a mistake, but cooperation is crucial."

Regarding the many misjudgments of VAR at the beginning of the season

"We did make some unnecessary mistakes when using VAR. I also told the players that VAR is to avoid mistakes, but it cannot replace the referee, and the referee still needs to make the final decision. It's a very good support tool and we need to make better use of it; we did make some avoidable mistakes. The positive thing is that we are developing a very young team with little experience but they have officiated great games in Serie A."

"So why after the Super Cup. What about choosing Souza to referee the Milan derby? He is a young man who is growing up and gives us a lot of security. It does not matter whether the referee comes from Milan or elsewhere. This taboo has been broken and I want to thank the club. They only care about one thing: choosing a high-quality referee, not where he comes from."