Switzerland forward Breel Embolo’s red card has sparked a new controversy at the World Cup. The decision by Portuguese referee João Pinheiro, right after Switzerland’s equalizer, set off wide discussion. But post-match analysis has made clear that it was the application of a new VAR rule introduced at this World Cup.
The incident occurred in the 72nd minute at the Kansas City Stadium. The referee showed a yellow card to Leandro Paredes on the allegation of a foul on Embolo. Unable to accept the decision, Paredes went to the match official to make his case. Pinheiro then went to review the video assistant referee (VAR). The VAR review showed that the Argentina midfielder had not fouled Embolo at all; rather, Embolo had faked the foul.
In this situation, the VAR’s mistaken-identity protocol, for correcting the punishment of the wrong player, came into effect. Since the referee had first shown a yellow card to the wrong player, that decision was withdrawn after viewing the video replay. The referee then showed a yellow card to Embolo himself for faking a foul to deceive the referee. That was his second yellow card of the match, so the Swiss forward was automatically shown a red card and had to leave the field.
Such an incident is not the first, however. At this World Cup, the same rule was applied in the Group D match between the United States and Paraguay. On that occasion the referee first showed a yellow card to a US player on the allegation of a foul on Almirón. Later, after a VAR review, it was found that it was the Paraguay player who had faked the foul, so the referee canceled the earlier decision and showed the yellow card to the Paraguay player.
Under this new VAR rule at the World Cup, if the wrong player is punished, that decision can be corrected through video review. At the same time, if evidence of faking a foul or deception is found, the player concerned will also be punished. Embolo’s controversial red card is the latest example of that rule.
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