Sports

UEFA To Mull Penalty Rule Rethink After Alvarez Controversy

Published

9 months ago

March 13, 2025

UEFA on Thursday said it would consider a potential rule change after Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez’s penalty was controversially disallowed in their Champions League shootout loss to Real Madrid.

Real Madrid won Wednesday’s shootout 4-2 after a 2-2 draw on aggregate to qualify for the quarter-finals, with Atletico coach Diego Simeone casting suspicion on the decision to rule out Alvarez’s spot-kick.

The Argentina international was deemed by VAR to have kicked the ball twice, touching it with his standing foot as he slipped before striking to score.

“Although minimal, the player made contact with the ball using his standing foot before kicking it,” UEFA said in a statement.

“Under the current rule, the VAR had to call the referee signalling that the goal should be disallowed.”

However, European football’s governing body said it would hold talks with the sport’s lawmakers regarding the rule on double touches.

“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,” it added.

Simeone said he wanted to believe the officials got the penalty decision right.

“I’ve never seen a penalty where they’ve called the VAR, but well, they would have seen that he touched it, I want to believe, I want to believe they saw he touched it.”

The coach asked members of the media during his press conference to raise their hand if they had seen a replay in which it was clear Alvarez had touched the ball twice.

“Raise your hand, anyone who saw Julian touch it twice, who is going to raise their hand? Nobody has raised their hand,” shouted Simeone.

Sports

JUST IN: Full Draw For 2026 World Cup Group Stages Confirmed

Published

9 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

The draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup has been conducted.

It took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with US President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in charge.

There will be 48 teams at next year’s tournament, to be played across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

All the participating countries were grouped into 12 groups of four.

Here is the full draw:

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Winner Play-off D
Group B: Canada, Winner Play-off A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Winner Play-off C
Group E: Germany, Curaçao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Winner Play-off B, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, Winner Play-off 2, Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Winner Play-off 1, Colombia, Uzbekistan
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana

Sports

EPL: Mikel Obi Reveals Why Chelsea Failed To Beat Arsenal in 1-1 Draw

Published

4 days ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Former Super Eagles midfielder, John Mikel Obi, has claimed Chelsea failed to defeat Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, because of an early red card to Moises Caicedo.

The two London rivals played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Caicedo was sent off in the 38th minute following a VAR check.

But it was Chelsea who took the lead after the break, thanks to Trevor Chalobah’s header.

But the Gunners equalized through Mikel Merino.

So far this season, Chelsea have received seven red cards in 20 games across all competitions this season.

“That’s four red cards this season; it’s not good enough. I’ve spoken about it; the manager needs to talk with the players, because it’s costing us games as well,” Mikel Obi said on his podcast.

“If you look at that game, if we finished with eleven men, I think we could’ve won. Maybe not easily, but comfortably, we could’ve secured a win.”

Sports

EPL: Slot Reveals When Salah Will Leave For AFCON

Published

4 days ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, has revealed that Mohamed Salah was “not happy” to be dropped for their 2-0 win at West Ham on Sunday.

Salah was named on the bench at the London Stadium for the Premier League fixture.

Slot took the bold decision, as he looked to arrest a poor run of form, that saw the Reds lose nine of 12 matches.

Salah was not summoned from the bench for the entire 90 minutes, as goals from Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo sealed victory.

“It was a normal reaction for a player who is good enough to play for us,” Slot said.

“I say that mildly as he’s been so outstanding for this club and will be in the future. He wasn’t happy he wasn’t starting but he wasn’t the only one.”

Salah could yet return to the starting line-up as Liverpool host Sunderland in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old will remain available for the next four matches, before he leaves to join Egypt’s squad for the African Cup of Nations.

“It’s 15 December,” Slot confirmed.

“But always in these situations there is the player and the national team involved and there are always talks about what is best for all three of us.”