It has been months since the UEFA European Championship ended, since Germany tragically lost to Spain in the quarterfinals of the tournament, and yet UEFA decides to surprise (not really) fans anyway.
During the intensely dramatic quarterfinal, Marc Cucurella made contact with the ball with his arm, inside his own box, which in usual circumstances would lead to a penalty. Not this game, though. For some extremely mysterious reason, the referees of the game, including VAR, decided not to award the penalty to Germany, a decision that could have very well led to Germany winning.
Months later, UEFA has released a statement that admits to the error that the game officials made back then. According to the UEFA Referees Committee (as captured by @iMiaSanMia):
Following the latest UEFA guidelines, hand-to-ball contact that stops a shot on goal should be punished more strictly, and in most cases a penalty kick should be awarded, unless the defender’s arm is very close to the body or in contact with the body. In this case [Cucurella], the defender stops the shot on goal with his arm, which is not very close to the body, making himself bigger, so a penalty kick should have been awarded.
Anyone with the tiniest bit of football knowledge could have deduced this themselves, yet the light bulb failed to light in the referee. The UEFA Referees Committee periodically analyses games and decisions made by referees in the past, in order to make them learning experiences for referees in the future. This game was one of the matches, and international referees have rightfully been informed that it should have ended in a penalty.
Does this change anything? Does this even prove that Germany was superior to Spain? What do you think? Let us know!