An Open VAR analysis of the penalty awarded to Torino at San Siro.Mauro Tonolini, a member of the National Referees’ Committee (CAN), is at the VAR centre in Lissone for Open VAR on DAZN to review all the incidents from the latest round of Serie A fixtures, Matchday 30.Following Juventus v Sassuolo, the incident from Milan v Torino (refereed by Fourneau with Nasca and Maresca on VAR) is analysed, specifically the penalty awarded for Pavlovic’s handball on Simeone.VAR: “Nothing for me here.”Referee: “They’re watching him, they’re watching him.”VAR: “Let me see how he goes in. Ah, he’s hitting him in the face. Hmm… Do you have another camera angle? We’re in the box, I’ll switch over. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much to it.”Fourth Official: “If it gives you ‘check complete’, you might as well give him a yellow for protesting – he’s putting on a show.”Referee: “Check complete?”VAR: “Hold on, no, hold on. He’s holding him… I reckon he puts his arm in and grabs him anyway. Just a moment, can you give me a low-angle shot?”Referee: “They’re checking it.”VAR: “Pavlovic can’t intervene. He’s with his back to the ball and pushes Simeone with his hand. In my opinion, it’s a foul. I’d show it, but check the app. I’ll check the app for you because I need you to review it. Go on, the ball’s up for play there.”Referee: “Should I come and have a look?”VAR: “Yes, you need to come and see it, open the review. It’s a booking for Pavlovic too because here, look, he’s with his back to it. He’s not paying attention to the ball. Francesco, there’s Pavlovic who – I’ll show you – isn’t paying attention to the ball and puts his hands on Simeone’s face. His hand on Simeone’s face. He doesn’t have possession of the ball; it’s just unsporting behaviour that needs to be punished.”Referee: “I have to give Pavlovic a yellow card.”VAR: “We confirm unsporting behaviour; there are no other grounds. Pavlovic, booked, Milan’s number 31.”The penalty was then awarded following a review, and Tonolini, speaking on DAZN, commented: “The decision is correct, but it took a lengthy review to reach it, and we’re not entirely happy about that. It perhaps took longer than necessary. We know that very long reviews can fuel doubts and expectations. Moreover, the footage shown lacks a close-up, a zoom on the point of contact that could have made the image itself and the decisions made clearer. Pavlovic, in fact, has his back to the ball; his sole interest and objective is to stop Simeone, and he does so with a hand on his face. The face is a protected area under the rules and consequently this is a penalty. Evidently, had the same contact been on the shoulder… we would be talking about something else. As it is the face, a protected area, we are dealing with a clear penalty. A correct decision, but one that could have been reached more quickly and with greater quality.”Tonolini confirms that the decision could have been made on the pitch: “Could Fourneau have awarded it on the pitch? There was certainly the possibility of doing so. We reiterate the central importance of the referee’s decisions. Had he done so, we would have had fewer problems managing the situation. It was possible to do so; we reached a decision via VAR – a correct decision, but one that we could have handled better both on the pitch and during the review process.”Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingAll the latest updates in real time! Join the CALCIOMERCATO.COM WhatsApp channel: click here