'This thing really pisses me off' - Antonio Conte FUMES at VAR as Napoli boss suggests 'ulterior motives' after controversial penalty award in draw with Inter

The former Chelsea and Juventus boss was left incensed at the match officials – both on the field and watching on from afar – after seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw away at reigning Serie A champions Inter. Scott McTominay opened the scoring in that contest from close range, before Hakan Calhanoglu equalised with an absolute screamer.

Inter’s Turkey international midfielder was given an opportunity to snatch a winner for the hosts, but fired a tame penalty against the post. The awarding of that spot-kick left Conte fuming, with there seemingly minimal contact between Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and Denzel Dumfries – but the decision could not be overturned as there was no clear and obvious error.

Conte told DAZN afterwards, in a post-match discussion dominated by debate regarding the use of technology in modern football: "What does it mean that the VAR cannot intervene? It only intervenes when it is convenient. If there is an error it must intervene. These incidents change matches.

"This thing really pisses me off, as it does all coaches. The VAR must correct the referees' errors or intervene if something was not seen. We are in a situation where we start to think again that there are ulterior motives on everyone's part. The referee in these cases must go and see, then at most confirm the decision."

Controversial VAR decisions continue to make headlines across Europe and around the world. Questions are being asked of why officiating teams are still getting big calls wrong when working with so many tools that are supposed to assist them.

The draw at San Siro means Napoli remain top of Serie A going into the international break, but there is a queue of four teams beneath them who are just one point behind, including Inter in fourth.