According to The Athletic, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) recently clarified the controversial VAR rules regarding "wrong identities" at the World Cup.
This clause can only be used to confirm the identity of the penalized player; it cannot be used to overturn the foul itself, nor does it apply to cases of diving. In other words, the core issue is not whether Embolo dived. The key point is that, according to current rules, VAR has no right to issue a second yellow card in this manner based on a so-called dive.
This means that the second yellow card that Swiss striker Embolo received for diving in the quarter-final against Argentina will not be shown under the new interpretation.
This World Cup marked the first time VAR was allowed to intervene in cases of "incorrect identities" involving yellow and red cards, but confusion arose in practice.
In the USA vs. Paraguay match, the referee showed Reem a yellow card for a foul on Almiron. VAR recommended a review based on "wrong identity" since Reem did not actually make contact with Almiron. The referee overturned the original decision and instead showed Almiron a yellow card as a warning against diving.
More importantly, in the Switzerland vs. Argentina match, Embolo won a free kick, and Argentina's Paredes was shown a yellow card for a foul. VAR recommended a review, as Paredes had not made contact with Embolo. After the review, Embolo was deemed to have dived, received a yellow card (his second of the match), and was sent off. Paredes' yellow card was then rescinded.
Although IFAB acknowledged that the use of "wrong identity" to handle diving during the World Cup received a "positive response," it has now explicitly banned such practices and stated that it will make a decision only after a full review of the VAR protocol. Until then, VAR cannot use this as grounds to overturn a diving ruling.
The Athletic has contacted FIFA for a response.
