Roma president rages against lack of VAR in Liverpool semi-final: 'It's an absolute joke!'

The Serie A side lost their semi-final 7-6 on aggregate to Liverpool but there were a number of incidents Pallotta was unhappy with in the game

Carl Markham
Thursday 03 May 2018 03:27 EDT
Comments
No points for second best in Champions League final, says Klopp

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Roma president Jim Pallotta believes it will be an "absolute joke" if the Video Assistant Referee is not introduced into the Champions League.

The Serie A side lost their semi-final 7-6 on aggregate to Liverpool but there were a number of incidents Pallotta was unhappy with in the game, including a handball by Trent Alexander-Arnold which was not given.

"It is very clear VAR is needed in the Champions League because you just can't let stuff like this happen," he said.

"You can all look at it yourself. (Stephan) El Shaarawy in the 49th minute wasn't offside and he gets taken down by the goalie; the 63rd minute was a handball that was obvious to everyone probably in the world except people on the pitch; the 67th minute Schick gets taken down in the box.

"I know it is difficult to ref but it is really embarrassing that we lose on aggregate like that.

"By the way, it should have been a red card which would have been 10 men in the 63rd minute.

"Liverpool are a great team, congratulations going forward, but if they don't get VAR in the Champions League stuff like this is an absolute joke."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in