Serie A: VAR comes under scrutiny as Torino have legitimate goal disallowed

Milan: The use of video replays at matches ran into trouble in Serie A on Sunday when Torino claimed they had a goal wrongly disallowed despite the referee consulting a video assistant referee (VAR). Torino’s match at Bologna ended 1-1 after they had an 83rd-minute goal by Alex Berenguer disallowed for offside against Andrea Belotti who had provided the assist. [caption id=“attachment_3765517” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of a VAR decision. Reuters[/caption] Replays showed, however, that the ball had been played to Belotti by an opponent, putting him onside. The referee blew for offside before Berenguer had put the ball into the net and so could not change his decision even after consulting the VAR, which took several minutes. “They disallowed a legitimate goal,” said Torino coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. “The whole stadium saw that (Bologna’s) Mattia Destro played the ball to Belotti, so much so that Bologna continued playing. Then the referee blew for offside.” “We have been told that, if there is a doubt, play should continue and then the referee should make his decision. But he blew the whistle first, and that was the mistake. “It’s only human to make mistakes, but he needed to let the game continue,” Mihajlovic added. “Otherwise, what’s the point of VAR?” At one point in the game, the crowd were told that the VAR system was not working before it was later announced that it had been fixed.