"Spain Were Far Superior" - Argentina's Video Analyst Shuts Down Conspiracy Theories with Honest Admission After FIFA World Cup Final
IFAB said the VAR clause can only correct the player punished, not the offense, after it was used to send off Breel Embolo.
- On Monday, July 27, The International Football Association Board confirmed that the Video Assisted Referee mistaken-identity protocol was incorrectly applied during the 2026 World Cup to punish individual acts of simulation.
- This clarification follows the quarterfinal match between Switzerland and Argentina, where Swiss forward Breel Embolo was sent off after a VAR review for diving, an application the governing body deemed incorrect.
- In the circular distributed Monday, IFAB clarified that the mistaken identity clause allows officials only to identify the correct player penalized, not to re-referee the game or punish simulation acts.
- Swiss manager Murat Yakin fumed after the decision sealed his side's elimination, calling the rule "absolutely incomprehensible," prompting IFAB to issue an update preventing similar interpretations.
- While the mistaken identity clause received positive feedback during the 2026 tournament, IFAB stated it cannot be used for simulation purposes until the comprehensive protocol review concludes.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Analysis by Mario González, CNN en Español Of course not. A World Cup is much more than an eleven-a-side soccer game. And the 2026 World Cup, which just concluded, showed that many other things are at stake in a match between two national teams, visible... The post Was the World Cup just soccer?: politics, controversies and conspiracy theories appeared first on KVIA.
The agency argues that "the interpretation of Wrong Identity was consistently applied during the World Cup."
FIFA's reaction arises after an IFAB circular explaining that the rule of changed identity can only be applied when a yellow card is shown to the wrong footballer, without reviewing or changing the infringement, although admitting it to the simulations in the video referee protocol (VAR).
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 71% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
