Serie A, Interview with Irrati: “You can’t live without Var”

“Without Var you can no longer stay”: it is not a hymn to your (frequent) duties but an observation that is now shared by many. Perhaps very many. Massimiliano Irrati, 43 years old, lawyer, over 300 appearances on the pitches as match director, was the first Var (also in the final) in the history of the World Cup (Russia 2018) and now the video is ready for the opening match of Qatar 2022. “Do I hope to make another final as a Var? I would have liked it better for Italy to be there, as for the rest, let’s not anticipate times that cannot be anticipated…”. In the meantime, he begins where he finished in Russia: Var for France-Croatia (precisely the 2018 final) and Var for Qatar-Ecuador, tomorrow’s opening match which will be directed by Daniele Orsato. The quintet with Orsato, Valeri and the assistants Carbone and Giallatini is the Italian Task Force at the World Cup without Italy. “We feel excitement and responsibility – continues Irrati, born in Florence and from the Pistoia section -, also towards the AIA and FIGC as well as football, the protagonists and the people. Do we use codes to understand each other? By now we know each other well, there is a relationship that often goes beyond refereeing and this benefits us.”

Irrati, what kind of World Cup do you expect?

“This will certainly be characterized by a very high level, above all athletic: compared to the classic ones in mid-June, the players arrive fully prepared and less tired. So our eyes will have to be more attentive”.

In your opinion, what has not been understood about the Var by those who watch, support and judge?

“I think everyone has already got used to it and it’s normal that criticisms also arise. The next step to take? The protocol already has everything, it’s already clear. Many coaches say “He could have gone to see him” but the rules are precise and it is equally clear that man’s discretion exists and must exist. Without Var we can’t live now: let’s try to have a championship day without Var and see what happens… The important thing, for those who are in front of the video , is not distorting the intensity of football: the best Var is the one who sees the irregularity without losing the essence of football reality”.

Will the Var be increasingly involved and protagonist?

“The Var is a very useful tool. Someone writes or says that the referees are reluctant to go to the Var. That’s not the case. I refereed without the Var: you don’t know the sleepless nights spent thinking about whether I had done well or badly, without someone who – in real time – could give you a hand”.

Do you agree with the idea of ​​separation of careers between referee and Var?

“That’s the future, that is, going towards those with specific skills. But I think that those who have experienced the field at high levels before should go to the Var”.

As an expert referee and varist player, what question would you ask the journalists or the fans?

“I would ask him to do one thing: to identify with us. Behind a referee there is a story, a man, a person and a family. In short, not to consider the referee a person only to be insulted. What is the unacceptable insult? The one that questions your good faith. Nobody wants to make a mistake because we know that a mistake can affect our career”.

Curiosity: you played football as a child and must have been a fan, right?

“I played football up to a certain point, in a youth sector; idols and the team never mind (he smiles, ed). But I love tennis very much: in chronological order, Lendl, Sampras and the greatest Federer marked the passion for tennis of my life”.

Everyone wonders: will you ever open up to the press immediately after a race?

“In the past we were closed, now we are opening up but at the moment in the immediate post-match it seems very difficult to me. Certainly further opening up would make the referee feel less distant from the people”.

Do newspaper votes change your day?

“Sometimes we somatize them. Let’s say that the first approach is not easy to overcome…”. (smiles)

Theme: racism. in January 2016 you suspended Lazio-Naples for repeated chants towards Koulibaly.

“Having said that the suspension is an automatic and dutiful concept, it was certainly a bad moment. Have I felt things like that? Obviously not because otherwise I would have acted: it seems to me that the situation is improving little by little”.

Another theme: territoriality. A Doveri cannot referee Roma or Lazio: shouldn’t this preconception fall away?

“We need openness on the part of everyone because if already at the time of designation someone begins to insinuate doubts about the impartiality of the arbitrator in question, it means that it is a process for which we are not yet ready”.

Offside was born as a principle of disloyalty: what kind of disloyalty is a finger offside?

“There must be a limit, any part of the body ahead highlights an advantage, an anticipation of movements. So…”.

Will the semi-automatic offside, SAOT, which will be active in this World Cup, arrive in Serie A in January?

“The Saot will be an exceptional help, a passage that will give practically immediate clarity, great certainties and infallibility in the face of that shred of human fallibility that could have remained. In A in January? I think so: better to have waited a bit than to have inserted it earlier without proper training”.

Are assistants at risk of disappearing?

“Absolutely not to disappear. Let’s say that their relationship with the referee in terms of contribution will change a lot. Before, they were the offside machines. Wasn’t weight given to the assistant in Juve-Salernitana? That case, which I didn’t experience anyway , it has already been clarified with a press release but the assistant referees certainly have a weight. Here: before they were concentrated only on the offside while with the SAOT they will become a cross between assistant referees and additional referees, like those – but it is just an example, to make it clear – that they were there for a period behind the door”.

With all this technology, what will the future referee look like?

“Maybe there will be a drone or a spider-cam (he smiles), so we won’t get in the way of the players… I’m joking of course…”.

Three female referees at the World Cup: another historic turning point?

“Fortunately he was also open to them. An opinion on Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi? To say that she is determined is an understatement. In addition to her undeniable competence, Sole has the personality of Frappart, I think I can say this with certainty…”.

What could be the other epochal turning point?

“An all-female sextet in the same race. Already having three women at the World Cup is history that is being written and that must absolutely be continued. The effective time? I say no. I may be conservative or even medieval but giving the effective time seems to box something, football, that has freedom and fluidity”.

Will Danilo’s non-scoring hand change anything in the regulation?

“I don’t know but I like the rule like this because a direct coup that goes on the net isn’t a goal. It gives you certainty, like offside.”

Will the Var-referee dialogues ever be published in Italy?

“I don’t know, we certainly worked a lot on our communications. For us there is no problem”.