Football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), are set to make a significant change to their penalty rules after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez saw his spot kick chalked off against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Diego Simeone’s men, albeit the underdogs, had the chance to one-up their capital city neighbours in Europe’s top table at the Round of 16 stage. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as after just shy of 130 minutes of football, Los Blancos secured passage.
Real Madrid reigned supreme by winning the penalty shootout 4-2 with Alvarez, Angel Correa and Marcos Llorente both missing. But it was the former’s penalty, one which bypassed Thibaut Courtois with relative ease, that grabbed the attention of the headlines.
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And now, on the back of the controversy it caused at Europe’s top table and the never-ending debate about whether Alvarez could feel hard done by or not, and, according to The Sun, IFAB are set to make changes to the rulebook in order to prevent the same from happening again.
While running up to shoot, the former Manchester City striker, who left the grasp of Pep Guardiola in search of more game time in the summer of 2024, slipped and subsequently double-touched the ball with both feet. It rifled into the top right corner.
Watch Alvarez's double-touched penalty below:
Although Alvarez – widely regarded as one of the best strikers in world football – initially saw his penalty registered as a goal fair and square, those in charge of VAR deemed the Argentine's penalty to be unruly. His penalty was, as a result, chalked off by the referee.
The decision sparked fury from those associated with Simeone and his men inside a raucous Metropolitano – and, as a result, the rule regarding a player unintentionally kicking the ball with both feet has been altered, per a report from The Athletic.
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IFAB have now come to the decision that should a penalty taker accidentally make contact with the ball with both feet, like Alvarez did in March, and the kick is successful, it must now be retaken. In previous rulings, it would have counted as a miss.
Law 14 has been altered. It now states: “The penalty taker inadvertently hits the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches his supporting foot or leg just after taking the kick: If the ball enters the goal, it will be repeated.”
“If the ball does not enter the goal, an indirect free kick will be awarded (unless the referee grants an advantage when the action clearly benefits the defending team) or, in the case of penalty shoot-outs, the shot will be recorded as missed.”
In the event a player voluntarily kicks the ball with both feet, the rule states: “An indirect free kick will be awarded (unless the referee grants an advantage when the action clearly benefits the defending team) or, in the case of penalty shoot-outs, the shot will be recorded as missed.”