Laporta stays silent on Mbappé penalty, offering only a mocking look

Kooora summed up Joan Laporta’s reaction with the words: “A smile and a look, then he leaves…”. The FC Barcelona president was asked about the penalty awarded to Kylian Mbappé during the match between Real Madrid and Racing Santander. He did not comment on the incident: after giving a mocking look, he got into his car and drove away.

The moment came as Laporta was leaving the opening ceremony of the exhibition “The Kings of the World” at Barcelona city hall on Monday. The Federation had organised the exhibition to celebrate the Spanish national team’s triumph under Luis de la Fuente. It was there that a journalist questioned him about the disputed penalty. Laporta chose to remain silent, letting his expression stand as a reaction without stating his opinion.

On the pitch, the incident behind the questions occurred in the 10th minute. Mbappé dribbled past a Racing defender inside the area, and referee Munuera Montero awarded Real Madrid a penalty following contact with Prati. The home players protested, while the host team’s supporters also voiced their disagreement. Mbappé converted the spot-kick in the 11th minute, opening the scoring with a powerful shot to the right of goalkeeper Agirrezabala. Real Madrid ultimately won 3-0.

The decision also drew strong criticism in the Catalan press. One newspaper considered the contact on Mbappé extremely slight. Another Catalan media outlet called the advantage given to Real Madrid a “ridiculous penalty”, describing Prati’s action as no more than a light brush of the arm against the forward’s chest before he went down in the area. In that account, video assistant referee Milla Alvéndiz did not consider it an obvious foul that warranted intervention to ask the referee to review the footage.

Those assessments belong to the media that made them; they do not alter the fact that the penalty was awarded and converted. They do, however, explain why Laporta was asked about the decision and why his silence, accompanied by a mocking expression, was read as a sarcastic response. He did not state a position on the call aloud.