Intellectual honesty is the best policy for everyone in football

Attempts to sanitise an obvious Alessandro Bastoni dive do no favours to Inter or the sport as a whole, writes Susy Campanale, no matter which team you are behind.

There is an Italian phrase I have always struggled to translate: ‘Intellectual honesty.’ It fit perfectly with the reactions to that Pierre Kalulu red card that ultimately proved decisive in Inter’s 3-2 win over Juventus. It means arguing in good faith, having a consistent worldview and sticking to it, even if it happens to be your own people who are in the wrong. Until now, Cristian Chivu had been perhaps its best proponent in Italian football, earning plaudits for his refreshing honesty and refusal to play the usual mind games we get in the media. That’s what makes his description of the Alessandro Bastoni dive so disappointing.

I expected it of others, such as all those fans of every other club who rushed to gleefully celebrate on social media, noting Juventus were on the receiving end of so many dubious decisions in the past. That unhealthy kind of attitude is so prevalent now in all areas of life, poisoning the general discourse in politics, sports, the arts, boiling everything down to ‘it’s my team and therefore it’s ok to treat others unfairly’ or go against everything you claim to believe in. There is precious little intellectual honesty in the world in 2026.

Inter struggle to defend Bastoni behaviour

Juventus director Damien Comolli said that the Bianconeri lost points, but all of Italian football had lost something with this incident. He’s not wrong, it is best seen as part of a wider catalogue of errors from the referees in Serie A and beyond this season. Only last week the AIA (Italian Referees Association) confessed that the winning Napoli penalty was for a ‘non-existent foul.’ That was arguably worse than the Kalulu incident, because with all the footage at their disposal, they still managed to create a penalty out of thin air.

VAR was meant to clamp down on errors, but it has prompted a spate of penalties that could only be given with the aid of a zoom lens and slow-motion replays, robbing situations of their natural context. At the same time, the limited protocol prevents an obvious mistake like the Kalulu second yellow card being rectified, because it cannot be used on bookings.

At least IFAB is considering rushing through the protocol changes ahead of the 2026 World Cup. It is long past time that we see coaches able to make targeted appeals, just like in tennis and other sports where video technology is used. That would’ve saved Kalulu the red and instead seen Bastoni sent off for simulation, seeing as he was already on a yellow card too. His wild celebrations right behind a stunned Kalulu show he knew full well he had got one over on the referee and deserved to be punished for such obviously unsporting behaviour.

It is a start, but we need to go further. Inter defender Bastoni wasn’t the only obvious dive we saw on Saturday in Serie A. Just hours earlier, Fiorentina defender Fabiano Parisi went down screaming and clutching his ribs after an opponent merely brushed past him. It was embarrassing and it’s a pity VAR did not have the all-clear to punish this sort of behaviour too.

Unlike penalties, there is no need for VAR to hold up the play while it evaluates these situations. They can wait a while and then recommend the yellow card be given, if it is truly warranted for an obvious simulation. Failing that, mark it down and hand down bans for future matches. This might help reduce the number of these shameful incidents.

Above all else, what we need is for coaches, players and fans to collectively show some intellectual honesty. If your team gets the rub of the green with a bad decision, just hold your hands up and admit you were lucky, just as you would be if a shot went in off the inside of the post. There’s no shame in confessing to good fortune.

Trying to argue in bad faith that a dive was worthy of getting an opponent sent off or a penalty awarded will only cheapen your standing, and ensure if the situation is reversed, they will do the same to you. That is how we get into the situation we are in now, where anything goes as long as it’s your ‘side’ enjoying ill-gotten gains. Do unto others as you would have them do to you is the simplest rule in all of human history, and we all lose when it is ignored.