Story perspectives

IFAB Overturns Embolo Red Card, Calls VAR Rule Review

7/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

International Football Association Board (IFAB) ruled that Swiss forward Breel Embolo was wrongly sent off in the quarter-final versus Argentina.
VAR corrected the identity by booking Embolo for simulation after referee João Pinheiro booked Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes.
IFAB said VAR can correct identity but not review offence, will review the clause in VAR protocol, prompting Switzerland coach Murat Yakin to call the rule unacceptable and say it destroyed game.

History

Historical Context

VAR entered football officially with the 2016 Dutch cup trial and debuted at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where 335 incidents were reviewed and 14 decisions overturned. Controversies persisted, notably the mistaken-identity reversal in the 2022 Argentina-Switzerland quarter-final that prompted IFAB’s July 2022 ruling and a 2024 clarification limiting VAR to player-identity corrections, angering Swiss coach Murat Yakin.

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Story summary

International Football Association Board (IFAB) ruled that Swiss forward Breel Embolo was wrongly sent off in the quarter-final versus Argentina.
VAR corrected the identity by booking Embolo for simulation after referee João Pinheiro booked Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes.
IFAB said VAR can correct identity but not review offence, will review the clause in VAR protocol, prompting Switzerland coach Murat Yakin to call the rule unacceptable and say it destroyed game.

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