Genoa's Outrage Over De Bruyne's Goal Amid VAR Controversy
The Serie A season had barely started when the first refereeing firestorm erupted at Marassi.
Napoli beat Genoa 2-0, Kevin De Bruyne scored one and created another, but the football was almost a sideshow. The real noise came from the home directors, convinced they had seen this movie before – with the same referee in a leading role.
The flashpoint: Vasquez, De Bruyne and a swallowed whistle
At 0-0, with the game still tight and tense, the incident arrived.
A loose ball dropped in the Genoa box. Johan Vasquez stepped across De Bruyne, positioning his body to shield it. De Bruyne nudged him from behind, Vasquez went down, and in that heartbeat of hesitation the Belgian pounced, smashing in from close range.
Referee Marco Di Bello had a clear view. He raised the whistle towards his lips, appeared ready to call the foul, then stopped as the ball hit the net. Goal given.
VAR checked it. No recommendation for an on-field review. The contact, the officials decided, did not amount to a “clear and obvious error.”
Napoli were 1-0 up. Marassi exploded.
The debate followed instantly in television studios across Italy. Some analysts saw a blatant push on Vasquez. Others argued the defender had tried to buy the foul, more interested in drawing contact than clearing the danger. The referee’s original judgement stood.
Lopez: “All of Italy saw what happened today”
For Genoa, it was not just about one decision. It was about the name on the teamsheet of officials.
“All of Italy saw what happened today,” Genoa Chief of Football Diego Lopez told Sky Sport Italia and DAZN Italia after the match. The frustration in his voice mirrored the anger in the stands.
“This referee was also in the VAR booth last season in the game against Napoli, so naturally when we heard he had been assigned to this match, we were worried.
“Last season it was 2-2 until the last minute and Napoli were awarded a penalty. He was also in Roma-Genoa, where our goalkeeper was hit in the face during a goal. Both times, the referees later acknowledged these were errors in Open VAR.”
Open VAR, DAZN’s programme dissecting the weekend’s officiating, has become a kind of public court for referees, where the association explains decisions and admits mistakes. Genoa know that space too well.
“Fortunately, there are cameras, so all of Italy saw that there was a clear push on Vasquez to create the opportunity for Napoli to score,” Lopez continued. “The referee saw it and decided not to blow his whistle, then the referee decided not to view it again.
“We tried to calm the players, because they knew Genoa had already suffered two recognised errors at the hands of this referee. We know that officials are human and can make mistakes, but all of Italy saw what happened today.”
De Bruyne decides it, VAR defines it
Once the deadlock broke, Napoli seized control.
De Bruyne, already at the centre of the storm, then turned provider. He slipped in Antonio Vergara, who finished clinically for 2-0 and killed off any realistic Genoa hope of a comeback.
The scoreline looked straightforward. The context did not.
Serie A’s referees had gone into the new campaign stressing a stricter standard for VAR intervention: only “clear and obvious” errors would be overturned. On this opening weekend, that philosophy met its first major test.
The De Bruyne–Vasquez clash was ultimately left to Di Bello’s on-field reading. VAR stayed in the background, exactly as officials had promised. Genoa walked away beaten, and convinced that the same standard keeps cutting against them.
The season is one matchday old, and already Italy is arguing over whistles, replays and where the line on “clear and obvious” truly lies.
