The controversial incident occurred in the home team's box at Riazor stadium, where Chupe was brought down by Ximo Navarro and Noubi. Neither the referee, Arcediano Monescillo, nor the VAR official, Caparrós Hernández, deemed the play a penalty at the time, a decision that the CTA is now rectifying.
The on-field decision was not correct, and the action should have been penalized with a penalty.
According to the CTA's explanation, for an action to be a penalty, either the defender's subsequent contact must be reckless or involve excessive force, or the contact must prevent the attacker from continuing to dispute or control the ball. In this instance, the second circumstance applied, as the ball was within reach of the Málaga CF player.
The refereeing body concluded that the VAR should have intervened due to the clear nature of the foul, describing the inaction as a "clear, obvious, and manifest error" by the on-field referee. While the impact on the final match result is speculative, the CTA's confirmation ensures that Málaga CF should have, at the very least, been given a penalty opportunity.
