It's such a niche scenario, but I'd agree the law could do with a tidy up.
Where there's a clearly accidental double touch just let the kick stand. Far more often than not the double touch reduces the likelihood of scoring anyway.
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Uefa will launch talks with Fifa and football’s lawmakers to review the rule that led to Julián Alvarez’s shoot-out penalty against Real Madrid being disallowed for a double touch.
A statement from Uefa said there was a “minimal” contact with his standing foot after the Atletico Madrid forward slipped before he kicked the ball and so the decision was correct under the laws of the game. Uefa also released video footage which appeared to show conclusively that Alvarez made contact with his standing foot before striking the penalty.
However, it will now ask Fifa and the International Football Association Board (Ifab) to consider changing the law “where a double touch is clearly unintentional” so that the penalty is retaken instead of just disallowed.
A Uefa statement read: “Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it. 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.”
Alvarez’s first contact with the ball was so minimal that the decision of the VAR to rule it out has been widely questioned, but it is understood Uefa officials at the match were shown replays of the incident afterwards — which were not available to broadcasters — that showed a very slight movement of the ball before the striker kicked it.
The Polish referee, Szymon Marciniak — the referee for the 2022 World Cup final — did not look at the pitchside monitor because under VAR protocols factual decisions such as offsides, double touches and whether the goalkeeper has moved off the line at a penalty are taken by the VAR.
One senior figure in European football told The Times: “This wasn’t the penalty taker trying to play tricks to deceive the goalkeeper.
“The law should change so that if you slip before you take the penalty and there is a minimal double touch then the kick can be re-taken and not just disallowed.
“There is a question, too, of whether VAR should have intervened when there was such slight contact for a nanosecond, but it could also be argued it was a factual decision like a very close offside.”
Another leading football figure told The Times the common sense approach would have been for the VAR to let the penalty stand as the touch was so minimal.
Such incidents are very rare, but happen often enough to consider a change in the law.
In 2023, Aleksandar Mitrovic had a penalty for Fulham against Newcastle United ruled out after he slipped while taking it and kicked the ball against his standing foot. The same thing happened to Riyad Mahrez in 2017 while playing for Leicester City against Manchester City.
Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal and France striker, criticised the lack of information provided to the crowd. He told CBS Sports: “They had the technology to know it had been double-touched so the question is closed.
“We have a lot to take from rugby because it would have been explained, it takes ten seconds. They always explain over a microphone to the ground so everyone knows what is going on.”
