UEFA has made an unexpected move following the VAR controversy over Julian Alvarez’s penalty during Atletico Madrid’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
The tie, which took place on Wednesday night, grabbed headlines as it progressed to a penalty shootout after Atletico’s 1-0 victory in the second leg leveled the aggregate score at 2-2.
During the shootout, Alvarez’s penalty was initially deemed successful but was later ruled out by VAR, which determined the Argentine had touched the ball twice during his attempt, violating the rules of the game. ..Continue Reading
The penalty was marked as a miss, and Real Madrid went on to win the shootout 4-2, with Antonio Rudiger securing the victory for the reigning European champions.
Within 24 hours of the match’s conclusion, UEFA announced a significant decision.
According to Fabrizio Romano, UEFA plans to hold discussions with FIFA and IFAB (The International Football Association Board) to potentially revise the rule regarding double touches during penalty kicks.
The talks are expected to address whether, in cases of unintentional double contact, a retake would be a fairer solution than recording the attempt as a miss.
The UEFA statement read: “Atletico de Madrid enquired with UEFA over the incident, which led to the disallowance of the kick from the penalty mark taken by Julian 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.”
Speaking about the incident, Atletico manager Diego Simeone said: “I just saw the image of the penalty. The referee said that when Julián stepped and kicked, he touched the ball with his foot, but the ball didn’t move.
“That’s something to discuss about whether it was a goal or not, but I’m proud of my players.”
