Nicola Rizzoli has admitted that Gianluca Rocchi made an error in not awarding Atalanta against Inter for Lautaro Martinez’s foul on Rafael Toloi.
The Brazilian defender was set to tap in an equaliser from close range when Lautaro, from the ground, grabbed hold of his lower leg and tripped him.
“Gianluca Rocchi had a good game, if we exclude the Lautaro Martinez incident with Toloi,” said former official and current referee designator Rizzoli to Radio Anch’Io Sport.
“Rocchi and all referees are happy if VAR corrects errors. This was a human error. The VAR did not see malice in Lautaro Martinez’s intervention and that was a human error, so he got it wrong, not Rocchi.”
Atalanta were awarded a penalty later in the game and missed, though they had equalised by then and drew 1-1.
