Genoa's Fury as De Bruyne Goal Ignites VAR Controversy Against Napoli

The new Serie A season needed barely 90 minutes to find its first refereeing flashpoint. It arrived at Marassi, with Genoa seething and Kevin De Bruyne at the heart of the storm.

Napoli won 2-0, De Bruyne scored one and made one, but the scoreline tells only a fraction of the story. The real noise came from the home directors’ box.

The flashpoint: Vasquez goes down, De Bruyne strikes

At 0-0, with the game finely balanced, a loose ball dropped inside the Genoa penalty area. Johan Vasquez stepped across De Bruyne, using his body to shield it and waiting to clear. A nudge came from behind. Vasquez hit the turf. De Bruyne did not hesitate.

From seven yards out, the Belgian drilled the ball home, unchallenged.

Referee Marco Di Bello had a clear view. He raised the whistle to his lips, appeared ready to call the foul, then lowered it again as De Bruyne’s shot ripped into the net. The goal stood on the field.

The incident went to VAR. After a check, there was no recommendation for an On-Field Review. The push on Vasquez was not judged a “clear and obvious error” under the current guidelines. Play restarted. Marassi boiled.

Napoli capitalised on the chaos. De Bruyne, now dictating the tempo, slid a pass through for Antonio Vergara, who doubled the lead. From there, the visitors closed the game out with cold efficiency.

Lopez: “All of Italy saw what happened”

Genoa’s anger was instant and uncompromising. Chief of Football Diego Lopez stepped in front of the cameras with a clear message.

“All of Italy saw what happened today,” he told Sky Sport Italia and DAZN Italia.

He did not stop there. The focus quickly shifted from the single episode to a longer-running grievance with Di Bello.

“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, the DAZN programme that reviews and explains the weekend’s key decisions, had previously confirmed mistakes in those matches. For Genoa, that context mattered. For Lopez, it framed Saturday’s controversy as part of a pattern, not an isolated call.

“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. 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.”

VAR philosophy under fire on opening day

Serie A’s refereeing body had gone into the new campaign with a clear message: VAR should only intervene for clear and obvious errors. No re-refereeing. No slow-motion overreach.

That stance was tested immediately.

In television studios across Italy, pundits and former referees pulled the De Bruyne-Vasquez incident apart frame by frame. Some argued De Bruyne clearly pushed the defender in the back to win the ball. Others insisted Vasquez had tried to buy a foul, stepping across the attacker without any real attempt to play the ball.

On the pitch, the decision remained with Di Bello. VAR did not see enough to overrule him. The goal stayed on the board.

By the final whistle, Napoli had three points and a clean sheet. Genoa had a defeat, a catalogue of grievances, and a familiar name at the centre of their frustration.

The season is only one matchday old, and already the debate over where “clear and obvious” ends – and controversy begins – is shaping the story.