De Rossi weighs in on Inter 3-2 Juventus controversy: ‘The stupidest VAR rule’

Genoa head coach Daniele De Rossi has had his say on the controversial decision to send off Pierre Kalulu during the Derby d’Italia between Inter and Juventus on Saturday evening, suggesting that the Frenchman fell victim to ‘the stupidest VAR rule’. 

Inter claimed a 3-2 victory over their arch rivals Juventus on Saturday evening, but the game was not without its controversial talking points. In the 42nd minute, Juve defender Kalulu was sent off for his second bookable offence. Newspapers in Italy described Kalulu’s first booking as harsh, and claimed that the second was ‘absurd’ and ‘non-existent’. 

For the second yellow card incident, Kalulu was penalised for fouling Alessandro Bastoni near the halfway line, however, replays showed that the Inter centre-back went to ground far too easily. 

Bastoni, who was on a yellow card himself at the time, was seen passionately celebrating the decision to send off Kalulu, which caused further anger among the Bianconeri management and fanbase. 

Refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi has since admitted that a mistake was made, however, the decision was not able to be reviewed by VAR at the time as this was a second yellow card call and not a straight red. 

There have already been suggestions that the IFAB will look to change this rule in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer. 

De Rossi weighs in on Inter 3-2 Juventus and refereeing standards 

De Rossi has not hid his frustrations with referees in recent weeks. Last weekend, his Genoa side were beaten 3-2 by Napoli, largely due to a 95th-minute penalty being awarded in favour of the Partenopei after a VAR review. 

“I already talked last week about penalties. None of us know what a clear and obvious error is anymore. We no longer know if we have to step on a foot or just glance over it,” De Rossi said after the Napoli game. 

“The football that I played in no longer exists. I must tell my players to keep their arms behind their backs and not go into tackles. I don’t know what sport I am coaching.”

De Rossi has since had his chance to comment on the controversial refereeing from the Derby d’Italia. 

He believes that it is a positive that this incident happened in such a high-profile game, given the attention it brings outside Italy, and claims that it would take ‘two days’ to amend the necessary VAR rules

“I was one of the first to celebrate the introduction of VAR and perhaps one of the first to realise that we will always be chasing each other on certain things,” De Rossi said (via Corriere dello Sport).

“The only positive thing about what happened is that it was a match between Juve and Inter, which makes the whole world talk about it. It’s a game that the whole world watches and is massively important in Italy. 

“The stupidest VAR rule, and I have been saying it for three years, is that a second yellow is not as serious as a straight red. It would be easy to change that in two days. Every second yellow, from tomorrow, should be reviewed. 

“I think it would be difficult to find anyone who disagrees that a second yellow is not as serious as a red card after Saturday night, nowadays it changes a game even more than a goal or a penalty.”