The Chilean referee Eduardo Gamboa was sanctioned with 18 weeks of suspension by the Arbitral Commission of the local Federation, while his collaborators were punished for 12 weeks after a controversial penalty shootout between Vallenar and Melipilla, who were fighting to move up to the second division.
Gamboa's punishment started on December 19, the day of the scandal, and will last until May 1 of the present year.
The punishment was applied to the referee and his assistants Carlos Venegas, Juan Serrano, and Ángelo Hermosilla, for the serious mistake made in one of Vallenar's penalties, in which the rules were not correctly followed, which later resulted in Melipilla's complaint.
The referee did not apply a rule implemented in June of this year by FIFA, in which if an executer and a goalkeeper make a mistake at the same time, the penalty kick is canceled in the shootout and the next shot must be taken.
The situation occurred in the match played on December 19, in which Vallenar was promoted at that time after the penalty shootout.
However, the National Professional Football Association (ANFP) ordered the penalty shootout to be repeated, but Vallenar did not appear on December 27 for that unprecedented repetition, so Deportes Melipilla was promoted to the Primera B, the second division of Chilean football.
The Vallenar officials appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the repetition of the penalties.