The Spanish Football Federation’s referees’ committee has acknowledged that the penalty awarded to Kylian Mbappé against Racing Santander was incorrect, backing the home side’s protests over one of the match’s defining incidents.
The admission came during “Tiempo de Revisión”, the committee’s programme analysing controversial refereeing decisions, after the incident drew widespread criticism of both the referee and the VAR team.
“It is not a penalty. This is a clear and obvious error by the referee, and VAR should have intervened,” the committee said.
The incident occurred in the 10th minute with the score still goalless. Mbappé received the ball inside the penalty area and attempted to accelerate past Matteo Prati, who placed an arm across him without applying enough force to justify the French forward’s fall.
Mbappé converted the penalty to put Real Madrid ahead before Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomande added further goals, securing a 3–0 victory for José Mourinho’s side at El Sardinero.
Racing coach José Alberto had challenged both the decision and the failure to send the referee to the monitor. “There is no pulling, no pushing — there is nothing,” he said of the contact.
The episode’s release was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday as a mark of respect following the death of Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel. The delay coincided with the Spanish federation’s decisions to suspend competitions scheduled for the same day.
In the same episode, the committee ruled that VAR intervention over an incident preceding Getafe’s goal against Sevilla was unjustified because the situation was open to interpretation. By contrast, it classified the Mbappé penalty decision as a clear and obvious error requiring a review.
