Matthew is angry:

“Then we’ve obviously been cheated”

Lothar Matthäus is puzzled by the penalty alert about Cucurella.

(Bild: AP/APA/AFP/THOMAS KIENZLE)

"If it's true that UEFA now admits that it was a wrong decision, then we've obviously been cheated!" Lothar Matthäus is astonished, actually angry, after UEFA's statement on Marc Cucurella's handball at the European Championship.

How so? On Monday, UEFA made an interesting announcement. Two and a half months after the European Championship quarter-final between Germany and Spain, the European Football Union conceded that the penalty that was not awarded following a handball by Spain's Marc Cucurella was a wrong decision. In this case, "a penalty kick should have been awarded", according to a report by the UEFA Referees' Committee, quoted by the Spanish portal "Relevo".

"Was there no instruction at all?"
This really gets Lothar Matthäus worked up. "I immediately said: clear penalty! Then came the news the day after that there had been an instruction from the UEFA referee to not whistle for a penalty if the arm is hanging down loosely," Bild quotes the record-breaking German international as saying: "That's why I said that the decision not to give a penalty was understandable. But today the question arises: Did this instruction not actually exist?"

"Actually a cheek"
If this is the case, it makes Lothar's blood pressure rise further. "If it's true that UEFA is now admitting that it was a wrong decision - then we've obviously been cheated! Then the alleged instruction was just an excuse. It's really a cheek," said Matthäus angrily.

European Championship hosts Germany lost the game 2:1 after extra time. After that, Cucurella was booed by German fans at every other game of the eventual European champions Spain.

"Relevo" published the report on Monday, which is part of a regular briefing for the top European referees. It states: "According to the latest UEFA guidelines, hand-ball contact that prevents a shot on goal should be penalized more severely and in most cases a penalty kick should be awarded." Exception: "The defender's arm is very close to the body or touches the body." In the case of Cucurella, however, a player "stopped the shot on goal with his arm, which is not very close to his body, making it bigger".