UEFA Referees Committee admits Cucurella handball should have been called a penalty

The Spanish national team, with a brilliant style of play, was proclaimed European champion against all odds last summer. Luis de la Fuente's team were far superior to most of their opponents, although they did have a few moments of suffering during the tournament, especially in the quarter-finals against Germany.

That match against the hosts, decided by a last-gasp goal from Mikel Merino, generated a lot of controversy because of an action involving Marc Cucurella. The Chelsea player, in the 107th minute and with the score at 1-1, blocked Jamal Musiala's shot with his hand inside the box. The German side claimed a penalty, but neither the on-field referee nor the VAR deemed the incident to be punishable.

The referee was harshly criticised in Germany for this alleged penalty and now, months later, UEFA itself seems to agree with the German fans' complaints: it should have been a penalty for the hosts.

According to ‘Relevo’, the UEFA Referees Committee, in a document after its last meeting (in which the referees of the main international matches of recent months were analysed), admits that the English referee Anthony Taylor (and also Stuart Atwell from the VAR) was wrong not to award a penalty to Germany in that action.

In the observations section concerning that match, the committee notes that ‘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 should be awarded, unless the defender's arm is very close to the body or over the body. In this case, the defender blocks the shot on goal with his arm, which is not very close to the body, making it bigger, and a penalty should have been awarded.

In this way, the highest body of football in Europe admits a mistake that, due to the moment in which it occurred and the final outcome of that match, could have completely changed the outcome of the competition.