Referees admit penalty awarded to Real Madrid against Racing Santander was wrong

The Refereeing Committee of the Spanish Football Federation has acknowledged that a penalty awarded to Real Madrid in their match against Racing Santander was incorrect. The admission came during a new episode of the program "Tiempo de Revisión", which replayed and analysed the incident involving Kylian Mbappé at the El Sardinero stadium last week.

Committee analysis

Video footage shows Mbappé controlling the ball inside the penalty area and trying to turn past a Racing defender. The Technical Committee of referees concluded that defender Prati put his hand in front of the Real Madrid forward but "did not use any force." For that reason the committee found there is no clear causal link that would justify awarding a penalty.

The committee's findings single out the match referee José Luis Munuera Montero for a clear error in judgment. The VAR official Luis Mario Milla was also criticized for failing to fulfil his responsibilities: the analysis says he should have summoned the referee to the monitor to review the incident and change the decision.

Real Madrid took the lead from the spot after Mbappé converted the penalty that the committee now regards as unjustified.

The episode on "Tiempo de Revisión" brought the committee's assessment into the public eye but did not announce any immediate disciplinary measures against the officials. The report focused on the referees' handling of the play rather than on the match result itself.

Photo: press material from the event