UEFA Breaks Silence on Julian Alvarez’s Controversial ‘Double Kick’ as New Penalty Angle Surfaces
European football’s governing body responds to the heated debate over Alvarez’s disallowed penalty, considering a possible rule review after Atletico Madrid’s Champions League exit.
UEFA has officially addressed the controversy surrounding Argentina international Julian Alvarez’s disallowed penalty during Atletico Madrid’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
The heated Madrid derby, which ended in a dramatic penalty shootout, saw Alvarez’s spot-kick ruled out after a VAR check confirmed he had made accidental contact with the ball twice.
Atletico had forced the game into penalties after a 1-0 win at home, but Real Madrid ultimately triumphed 4-2 in the shootout.
Despite multiple replays confirming the referee’s decision was correct, Atletico fans fiercely debated the call, believing it contributed to their team’s Champions League exit.
In response to the uproar, UEFA announced they would consult FIFA and IFAB to assess whether the rule should be revisited in cases of unintentional double touches.
The 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.”
Atletico boss Diego Simeone was not happy with the decision; however, he did not criticise it during his post-match conference.
He said: “I just saw the image of the penalty. The referee said that, when Julian 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.
“When he plants his foot and kicks, the ball doesn’t move, even a little bit. But if VAR called it, I’ve never seen a penalty called by VAR, but it’s still valid, and they’ll have seen that he touched it. I want to believe they’ll have seen that he touched it.”
