CONMEBOL is going old school, as the confederation announced in a statement that they will be eliminating the away goal rule from all of its club competitions. This includes Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and Recopa Sudamericana.
The statement read, “CONMEBOL eliminates the “away goal”. From now on, all the goals in CONMEBOL tournaments will have the same value; the most goals converted as a visitor will no longer be considered as a tie-breaking factor. With this, we aim for an increase in sporting justice.”
The away goal rule had been in effect for some time now but has come under fire over the years if it was indeed a proper way to determine who advances in an international tournament.
CONMEBOL eliminates away goal rule
Once again CONMEBOL will have home and away fixtures that after both games if the goal tally is tied, the decider will be to go straight to penalty kicks. The away goal rule was established in 2005, amid much resistance and will now be completely eradicated from competition.
When the away goal rule was initially established many pundits and even players thought that a team that scores 1 goal away from home counted as double, meaning instead of winning 2-1, they won 4-1 due to the “away goal” rule. It was after much clearing up, almost a year later, did fans and journalists understand it was a tie breaker.