New rules abound - why VAR diving decision was wrong despite feeling right
Summary
During a World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay, referee Danny Makkelie used VAR technology to change a yellow card from a U.S. player to a Paraguayan player for diving. However, football rules experts say this was a wrong use of the mistaken identity rule, which only applies when the referee penalizes the wrong player for the same foul, not for wrongly accusing someone of diving.Key Facts
- The incident happened in the second half of the USA vs. Paraguay game.
- The referee first gave a yellow card to USA’s Tim Ream for fouling Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron.
- VAR showed that Almiron was not fouled, so the referee took the card from Ream and gave it to Almiron for diving.
- The mistaken identity rule is meant to correct when the wrong player is punished for a foul, not for cases of diving.
- Sources told BBC Sport that the referee's decision to book Almiron was against the official rules.
- FIFA has not yet explained the confusion about applying this rule to diving.
- Officials have introduced many rule changes at this World Cup, which is causing confusion among referees and fans.
- Some former players support punishing diving but are unsure how to consistently apply the rules.
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