The International Football Association Board (IFAB) on Tuesday has amended the ‘double-touch’ penalty rule which caused a lot of controversy in the UEFA Champions League in March, Afrosport reports.
Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez had his penalty ruled out during a shootout against Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. The Argentine, who converted his spot-kick, slipped, and his non-kicking foot made minimal contact with the ball before beating goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The penalty kick was disallowed by referee Szymon Marciniak after a lengthy consultation with VAR, with the Atletico fans furious at the call as Real Madrid went on to win the shoot-out 4-2 and progressed to the quarter-finals.
Following calls to review the rule after the incident, particularly from Europe’s football body UEFA, IFAB has made a change to “Law 14”, stating that in case of an accidental double kick, the penalty would now be retaken rather than ruled out given it was converted.
IFAB revealed that the fundamental purpose of Law 14 was to tackle deliberate double touches, which would put goalkeepers at a disadvantage by changing the ball’s intended trajectory. The body, which controls the laws of football, has issued a clarification to all national associations and confederations.
Meanwhile, unsuccessful double-touch penalties would result in an indirect free kick for the defending team if they happened during the match or be ruled as a miss during a shootout.
The revised law will take effect from 1 July, but IFAB stated that it “may be used by competitions starting before that date”.
The FIFA Club World Cup is the biggest event of the summer, with 32 teams to compete in the new format in the United States from 14 June to 13 July.
