Como-Bologna, the VAR breaks: six minutes and a smartphone to validate Cutrone’s goal. What happened

It took six minutes to validate an evidently regular goal from Como to Bologna. They were all there, in the middle of the field waiting. What, almost no one knew.

Cutrone, goal validated after six minutes

A phone call doesn’t make your life longer but it might allow you to validate a goal. 7 minutes and 38 seconds of the second half had passed when Cutrone he scored for Bologna to make it 2-0 for Como. But he had to wait until the 14th minute of the second half to really celebrate. The reason? The VAR had gone out.

The silence of the Var

After the goal, referee Piccinini tried, in vain, to communicate with the VAR room in Lissone, a few kilometers from Como, but completely unreachable for him. He desperately tried to understand if Cutrone had started in a regular position: his linesmen had no doubts about it, but to validate the goal it was not enough. A check from the VAR room was needed. A check that he was unable to get, however.

A cell phone to validate the goal

So, after almost five minutes of attempts, Guida began to communicate with his VAR through an intermediary equipped with a cell phone. In short: a smartphone was needed to be able to resume the match. The scene is almost unprecedented: the lip-reading, very clear, clearly said “restore the line”, evidently the offside line. They probably had to start the review all over again. Only at that moment, therefore, after six very long minutes of waiting, Como was able to celebrate.