"Club America penalty should not have been retaken": World Cup referee sparks controversy

The keys for the Liga MX semifinals are now ready and although the Águilas eliminated Puebla, a World Cup referee has sparked controversy by stating that Club America's penalty kick should not have been retaken.

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The referee with World Cup experience claims that the penalty kick taken by Diego Valdés, which gave Club Azulcrema the lead in the match, should not have been retaken.

Who is the World Cup referee who sparked the controversy?

The referee in question is none other than Armando Archundia, a referee with experience in two World Cups: Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, tournaments in which the Mexican referee had experience. 

Archundia was critical of the work of referee Fernando Guerrero and for a Mexican media outlet, he gave his version of what really should have happened at the moment when the penalty kick was awarded in favor of Club América. 

According to his assessment, and with his knowledge of rule 14, the goalkeeper who is about to receive the penalty kick must be touching the goal line with at least 1 of his feet, and according to what he saw of the play, Antony Silva never stopped touching the line when the penalty kick was taken for the first time. 

And under this criterion, the penalty should not have been retaken, since what should have happened after Silva stopped Valdes' shot was to restart the match with a corner kick.

In his words: "Rule 14 says that the goalkeeper must be touching the goal line with at least one of his feet, which he appears to be touching, therefore, the penalty kick should not have been retaken and the game should have been restarted with a corner kick.

The referee reviewed the first time the penalty kick was taken and according to his knowledge and what he saw, he affirms that Silva never stopped touching the goal line. 

"We are talking about a centimeter that doesn't touch the line, that doesn't have his feet well on the line, which is very complicated to observe. Common sense, if it's not very clear or very obvious, because it looks like he's touching with his heel."

This is not the first time it has been pointed out that Liga MX refereeing is in favor of Club America 

Yesterday, sports commentator André Marín made a strong point by writing on Twitter that Liga MX refereeing is in favor of Club America, and also produced a video editorial in which he repeated the accusation.

According to Marín, Puebla will have to play against 11, if not 12 as the refereeing is in favor of the Aguilas team, according to his words, so his tweet was responded to by many Azulcremas fans, in a strong way.

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