When Chile Tried Football Penalties From Longer Distances

In 1990, Chile experimented with a peculiar twist on football: the so‑called “penal largo” or long penalty. Now, you can start your online betting in Uganda with 1xBet on various occurrences in football too.

The idea was to make certain fouls farther from goal more punishable by creating a free‑kick without a defensive wall, taken from outside the standard penalty box.

The rule added a dashed line across the pitch, roughly 25 meters from the goal line. If a defender committed a direct free‑kick foul inside that zone, the attacking team would earn a “long penalty”. This basically looked as follows:

• it was a free kick from that line 25 meters from the goal;
• there was no wall;
• so the only defending player was the goalkeeper.

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An option for the referee

The rule also allowed the referee to apply advantage: if continuing play was more advantageous than stopping for the long penalty, the game could continue. There is also live sports betting available now at 1xBet on aspects decided by referees too.

The rule was implemented for about 6 months in 1990, in Chile’s domestic competitions. More specifically, it was applied in the Copa Chile and in the Apertura of the second division. If you want to wager on plenty of different football tournaments from South America, you will see there is live sports betting available right now on them at 1xBet.

Effects and outcome

The impact was immediate. In one weekend (March 17‑18), in matches under the new rule, of the total 63 goals scored in those fixtures, 18 came from long penalties. That’s about 28.5% of the goals. Some matches saw multiple long penalties, even 2 in one game by different teams. If you like competitions of this sport, you are also invited to place a football bet of the day with 1xBet.

Despite apparent popularity among players, coaches, and fans, the rule was short-lived. It did not survive beyond that half‑year experiment.

Today, the “penal largo” is often remembered as one of the more curious experiments in Chilean football history. It was a rule that temporarily reimagined how fouls near goal could create scoring chances. It did not lead to lasting change, but it remains a fascinating “what if?” for football fans. There is a football bet of the day to place at 1xBet on various occurrences that can take place at these sports events too.

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