Controversy and debate over Juventus penalty against Cagliari

The penalty awarded to Juventus against Cagliari has caused controversy as, although the law calls it a penalty, fans and former players argue that Sebastiano Luperto had few other options.

The incident allowed Dusan Vlahovic to break the stalemate at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin this afternoon, just 15 minutes into the game.

See how the game develops in the live blog.

Federico Gatti jumped with his head towards the corner, but the ball went wide and initially there was no corner.

However, VAR determined that not only had there been a deflection, but that it was beyond the fingertips of Cagliari defender Luperto.

According to the letter of the law, this was a punishment because Luperto’s arm was raised away from his body, thereby enlarging his silhouette.

DAZN referee expert Luca Marelli insisted it was a penalty and it could be assumed that the arm was in an unnatural position.

“It is clearly a penalty as the fingers of Luperto’s right hand touch the ball and are in a completely unnatural position,” Marelli said.

“The direction of the ball doesn’t change, but we now know that the rules depend on the position of the arms and that makes this a punishable offense even if he just brushes it with his fingers.”

Former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese, who works as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia, also defended the decision to give Juventus a penalty.

“Luperto’s handball is punishable due to geometry: the penalty is correct.” The arm appears to be in a natural position given his header intent and the impact with the opponent behind him, but it is above his shoulders. In this position it is always punishable.”

On the other hand, former players, pundits and fans pointed out that Luperto went for a header with Gatti in a scuffle with two other players and it was almost impossible to do so without raising his arms.

If the rules have been adjusted this season to take into account issues such as interference with a penalty that does not affect play, can further optimizations be made for a handball that does not change the direction of the ball?