Fulham’s pre-season friendly against Malaga on the Costa del Sol ended in bizarre fashion as the Premier League side walked off before a penalty shootout, while coach Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off for confronting the referee.
Malaga, the La Liga hosts, equalized to make it 2-2 in the 90th minute. According to Malaga, the two teams had agreed to settle the Trofeo Costa del Sol with a penalty shootout. However, Fulham denied any such agreement, stating that no shootout had been arranged in the event of a draw.
Malaga said their players took a shot into an empty net and claimed victory. On social media platform X, Fulham insisted: “We can confirm that prior to the match, both teams agreed that there would be no penalty shootout in the event of a draw.”
Arbeloa, a former Real Madrid player, was shown a red card for disputing the officials’ decisions late in the game.
The incident echoes January’s Africa Cup of Nations final, when Senegal walked off in protest after a penalty was awarded to Morocco. That match was later resumed, Morocco missed the spot-kick, and Senegal won the subsequent shootout to claim the title.
However, Senegal’s trophy was later stripped by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after Morocco appealed. Senegal took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
