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Football’s lawmakers have issued a significant clarification to penalty kick regulations following a controversial incident that played a role in Atlético Madrid’s Champions League exit earlier this year. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) confirmed on Tuesday that penalties involving accidental double touches — where a player slips and makes contact with the ball twice — must now be retaken if the ball enters the goal.
The ruling comes after Julián Álvarez’s spot kick in a shootout against Real Madrid during the Champions League round of 16 was disallowed. The Atlético forward slipped during his run-up, inadvertently making contact with the ball via his standing foot before striking it cleanly with the other. Though the ball went in, the goal was ruled out after a video review detected the double contact, and Atlético ultimately lost the tie.
"This situation is rare, and as it is not directly covered in Law 14, referees have understandably tended to penalize the kicker," IFAB said in a statement. "However, this part of Law 14 is primarily intended for situations where the penalty taker deliberately touches the ball a second time before it has touched another player."
The interpretation update is already in effect for UEFA matches, starting with the Nations League semifinal between Germany and Portugal in Munich. FIFA has also confirmed that the same guidelines will apply during the upcoming Club World Cup in the United States, which includes Atlético among the participating teams.
IFAB outlined the refined position in a circular to its stakeholders, stating that in the event of an accidental double touch, a successful penalty should be retaken, while a missed attempt will not be repeated. During regular play, if the ball does not enter the goal, the defending team will be awarded an indirect free kick. In shootouts, the miss will be recorded as such.
The disallowed penalty infuriated Atlético supporters and manager Diego Simeone at the time. UEFA stood by the decision in the immediate aftermath, stating that under the rule as written then, the VAR had no choice but to advise the referee to disallow the goal.
Atlético later sought clarity from UEFA, prompting the governing body to liaise with FIFA and IFAB about the ambiguity surrounding unintentional double touches. Article 14.1 of the laws of the game states that "The kicker must not play the ball again until it has touched another player" — a rule now clarified to distinguish between intentional and accidental second touches.
Brud acknowledged that even unintentional double touches could result in an unfair advantage, particularly by altering the ball’s trajectory and deceiving goalkeepers. As a compromise, the retake ensures fairness without rewarding or penalizing accidental infractions.
While the clarified law is officially effective from July 1, IFAB and UEFA confirmed it may be implemented earlier for competitions that begin before that date — such as the Club World Cup kicking off on June 14.
For Julián Álvarez, that means if a similar slip were to occur in the U.S. tournament this month, the penalty would be retaken — offering a second chance he didn’t get in March.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @atleticodemadrid, Pixabay / planet_fox
