Lanús won the 1981 Primera C title various fixtures before the season ended. The club, with help from the fans, was promoted to the Second Division once again having more than 10,000 members. In 1984 the team reached the semifinals of the promotion playoff to the First Division, when the team had to face Racing Club. In the first leg, Racing Club beat Lanús 2–0. In the second leg, played in Independiente's stadium, the referee gave Racing Club a controversial penalty kick after disallowing a Lanús goal. Racing Club scored a goal, but the match was eventually suspended because of Lanús' fans. The match was continued at Atlanta's stadium some days after, and Lanús were down 2–1 after dominating the game. The referee, Emilio Misic, mistakenly gave the final whistle 5 minutes before the end of regulation. The Racing Club players already started celebrating, so the referee used that excuse not to reverse the decision. Lanús was once again disadvantaged because of a referee error, therefore losing the series and failing to gain promotion to the First Division.