Hojlund ‘should’ve had red card’ confirms referee, but Ferguson also condemned

Refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi confirms Rasmus Hojlund “should’ve been sent off” for a reaction foul during Bologna-Napoli, but also condemns Lewis Ferguson’s “attitude.”

The incident had already raised eyebrows during Bologna’s 2-0 victory at the Stadio Dall’Ara over the weekend, when the pair were tussling in midfield.

As they went to ground, Hojlund lashed out an elbow into Ferguson’s ribs, a gesture that was spotted by the referee and penalised with a yellow card.

According to the analysis presented by designator Rocchi during DAZN Italia’s Open VAR segment, this was a red card offence.

“For us, this is a sending off, because the attitude is absolutely unacceptable,” said Rocchi.

“It is true that Ferguson is holding him, but the correct decision would’ve been to send off Hojlund and book Ferguson. In this case, you don’t even need to evaluate the intensity of the strike, because a player should not have this type of attitude.

“Serious violent play is something we are penalising very severely, and the statistics are backing us up, because those incidents are diminishing. This type of sanction is necessary to protect players.”

However, the refereeing designator also maintains Ferguson’s reaction to being elbowed in the ribs effectively harmed his case rather than helped him get Hojlund penalised.

“The thing I didn’t like one little bit was also Ferguson’s reaction, because he is really stopping VAR from taking action. If you receive a blow in the ribs and hold your face, that’s not right.

“In recent years, the idea has been to protect players from being struck in the face, but these rules are being used and abused by players trying to get their colleagues booked.

“In this case, we made a mistake not sending Hojlund off, but Bologna received less precisely because of Ferguson’s attitude.”

This is confirmed by the audio from the VAR booth, where officials Francesco Meraviglia and Davide Massa are discussing whether to alert the referee for an On-Field Review.

“He holds his face, but there was no contact to his face. It was just in the ribs.”

Meraviglia then speaks directly to referee Daniele Chiffi.

“I can confirm Hojlund yellow card. Ferguson holds him on the ground, then he lashes out with an arm. It is medium intensity in the ribs, but caused by the initial defender’s foul.

“The Bologna player holds his face, but the blow is in the ribs.”