Kalulu case: VAR protocol changes, as early as the World Cup
The second yellow waved by La Penna in front of Kalulu has become a real case. Many have lashed out at the’referee, guilty of being “too impulsive”. There are those who have called for VAR’s intervention, not knowing that, in this type of case, he cannot intervene at all, at least for the moment. In light of what happened at San Siro, during the Derby d’Italia, it seems indeed that the VAR protocol will change soon.
Chiellini, Bianconeri manager, pointed the finger at La Penna and the’entire refereeing system: “You cannot talk about soccer, after what happened today it becomes difficult. Something unacceptable happened, for the umpteenth time this season. Once it happens to us, once to others. From tomorrow we will probably change the VAR but such a mistake is not acceptable, it is not acceptable to ruin such a match,” his harsh words to Sky Sport.
In fact, VAR will be changed and sooner than expected, probably as early as the World Cup. Although there’s nothing official yet, the feeling is that the “Kalulu” case has accelerated this path “of change”. Among the various innovations that the’IFAB (the body in charge of preserving and/or changing the rules of soccer), certain the inclusion of the rule that provides for the possibility of calling the match director back in the case of a second yellow situation against a player.
Next Feb. 28, the national assembly of the IFAB’will be held in Wales. In short, quick timeframe to get to changing the protocol as soon as possible. Obviously, this will not solve the issue of poor refereeing level raised by Chiellini (and others) but it could bring important developments and improvements.
In the meantime, La Penna, the Inter-Juventus referee, could be stopped for a long time. The error remains and is considered serious. Of course, with VAR everything would have been different: no yellow to Kalulu and, who knows, yellow to Bastoni (it would have been the second).
