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It was not until the 32nd match of the Serie A season that the first penalty was awarded, and that decision also brought the first VAR On-Field Review. The league then had to wait until the 34th game before a penalty was successfully converted.

The AIA (Italian Referees Association) had already made it clear before the start of the 2026/27 campaign that it would apply new guidelines, following years of criticism that there were too many stoppages in play, too many soft penalties and too many red cards.

Italian football had embraced VAR more fully than many other countries, but the main criticism was that too many incidents were being examined in extreme close-up and judged through slow-motion replays, instead of being assessed in the wider context of the speed and intensity of the game.

There has certainly been a noticeable change in interpretation, because across the first 31 Serie A matches this season, not a single penalty had been given and not one VAR On-Field Review had been recommended.

One example that could be debated was the handball incident in Genoa’s 1-1 draw with Frosinone, which arguably fell into the category of situations not considered clear and obvious errors, as the player’s hand was not clearly moving towards the ball.

In the end, it made no difference, because once the penalty was awarded, Lorenzo Colombo sent his side-footed effort wide for Genoa.

It then took until the 34th match of the season for a penalty to finally be scored, when Daniel Maldini found the net against parent club Atalanta in Cagliari’s 2-1 win.

That incident was also for handball, although on this occasion the referee identified Sead Kolasinac’s arm raised and flailing above his head in real time.

With this new approach, Serie A is setting itself apart, although there are concerns in some quarters that the officials may have gone too far in the other direction.

By comparison, LaLiga had 13 penalties awarded in its opening 30 matches, Ligue 1 had nine, the Premier League had five, and the Bundesliga had only one.