The match between Napoli and Inter Milan in the Italian league witnessed significant refereeing controversy after the home team won 3-1, as Giuseppe Marotta, the president of Inter Milan, protested against the controversial penalty that contributed to turning the tide of the match in favor of Napoli.

Marotta said: "My presence here is merely a contribution I wish to make to the football movement, and I am also eager to understand, although Napoli won in the end, especially in the last twenty minutes, the penalty was crucial in changing the balance of the match, it came after an assessment from the assistant referee, and it is clear that the referee was in an ideal position to evaluate, he saw the event then moved away, and then blew the whistle after eight seconds."

He added: "I believe this was the ideal situation for VAR intervention, especially since the referee initially assessed the situation and ignored it, the footage would have allowed him to reconsider and make his decision himself."

Marotta continued: "Giovanni Di Lorenzo entered the penalty area and fell between a push from Mkhitaryan and a sliding tackle from Francesco Acerbi, but it seems that neither made significant contact, the penalty seemed strange because the referee turned his back to the action and walked away, but he blew the whistle after eight seconds, after being informed by his assistant of a foul."

He pointed to the various reactions regarding the decision: "Napoli's victory came from this event, and of course the match ended 3-1, but if we look at the dynamics of the penalty, it reflects what Rocchi has said more than once, about not awarding easy penalties, many journalists and refereeing expert Luca Marelli confirmed that this is not a penalty."

Regarding the impact of the penalty on the players' morale, Marotta said: "We went into halftime trailing 1-0, after Bastoni and Dumfries hit the posts twice, I was in the locker room at halftime, and it is clear that the penalty had a significant impact on the team's morale, I'm not saying Napoli wouldn't have won anyway, but we are here to protest against the way the penalty was awarded."

About the moment of tension between Inter captain Lautaro Martinez and Napoli coach Antonio Conte, Marotta said: "No, these things happen on the pitch, we see them often in football, I won't comment much on that."