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Almirón Red-Carded for Mouth-Covering, Banned from Paraguay-Australia Match

6/20/2026

38 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Referee Ivan Barton consulted VAR and gave player Almirón a red card for covering his mouth under FIFA’s rule.
The dismissal bans Almirón from Paraguay’s match with Australia and may lead to a suspension.
FIFA introduced the rule after players Vinicius Junior and Gianluca Prestianni hid remarks by covering mouths, prompting president Gianni Infantino to call it an offense and referee chief Pierluigi Collina to note abuse was not proven.

History

Historical Context

VAR was conceived in the early 2010s, trialed in 2016, and entered the Laws of the Game on 3 March 2018 via IFAB. FIFA approved its full use for the 2018 World Cup in Bogotá on 16 March 2018, reviewing 335 incidents with a 99.3 % success rate. IFAB later added a yellow-card rule for TV-screen gestures in 2019, showing the sport’s expanding video-assisted oversight.

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Story summary

Referee Ivan Barton consulted VAR and gave player Almirón a red card for covering his mouth under FIFA’s rule.
The dismissal bans Almirón from Paraguay’s match with Australia and may lead to a suspension.
FIFA introduced the rule after players Vinicius Junior and Gianluca Prestianni hid remarks by covering mouths, prompting president Gianni Infantino to call it an offense and referee chief Pierluigi Collina to note abuse was not proven.

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