UEFA has issued an official statement regarding the controversial penalty decision that saw Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez’s goal disallowed during Wednesday night’s Champions League round-of-16 tie against Real Madrid.
The match, which ended 2-2 on aggregate after extra time, was decided via a penalty shootout. The crucial moment came when Álvarez stepped up for Atlético’s fourth spot-kick with the score at 2-1 in Real Madrid’s favor.
As Álvarez took his shot, he slipped, making contact with the ball using his standing foot before striking it with his other foot. Initially, the goal was given, but after a VAR review, officials ruled it out for a double touch, which is against penalty-taking rules.
That is against the rules with penalties so the ‘goal’ was ruled out.
So, instead of it being 2-2, it went back to 2-1 to Real, with Fede Valverde making it 3-1.
In a statement today, UEFA has explained why the penalty was cancelled.
The body also said they will have discussions with FIFA and IFAB, in a bid to review the rule.
UEFA’s statement read: “Atlético de Madrid enquired with UEFA over the incident, which led to the disallowance of the kick from the penalty mark taken by Julián Alvarez at the end of yesterday’s UEFA Champions League match against Real Madrid.
“Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it, as shown in the attached video clip. Under the current rule (Laws of the Game, Law 14.1), the VAR had to call the referee signalling that the goal should be disallowed.
“UEFA will enter discussions with FIFA and IFAB to determine whether the rule should be reviewed in cases where a double touch is clearly unintentional.”
