At home in Bari, referee Manganiello’s decision not to award a penalty kick in favor of the Apulians due to the contact between Favilli and Ceccherini at the end of the match against Cremonese in the last round of the championship is still controversial.
The deputy sporting director of the red and whites Valerio Di Cesereinterviewed by RadiBari he spoke about what happened like this: “That episode penalized us, we could have brought home the victory but instead Manganiello didn’t give us any explanation and we still haven’t understood whether or not he was warned by VAR. Against Cosenza the referee was called back and in fact whistled for the penalty. He certainly saw it wrong and we hope they will give us some explanations because these are important points, from the pitch it was immediately clear that it was a penalty and the referee can also make a mistake, but I don’t understand why the VAR call didn’t come. – concludes the manager – Immediately after the match the president called the competent bodies“.
The technician also intervened on the episode Moreno Longo in the post match: “We return with regret, the episode of the penalty is clear and was handled badly by the VAR. It’s absurd that the referee isn’t called back to review: the referee can make mistakes, the VAR can’t. Favilli is in front, the defender impacts on his legs. It’s absurd that this didn’t happen, also because against Cosenza, last Sunday, we had a penalty against us that, having seen the dynamics, wasn’t there. We ask for unanimity, we ask for what we deserve, nothing else”, and President Luigi De Laurentiis: “I’m not convinced of the episode involving Favilli a few minutes before the end of the match. In my opinion, the penalty was in our favor”.