⚡ THE SAME ACTION. TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT JUDGMENTS.
Miguel Almirón covered his mouth to speak to an opponent against Turkey, referee Iván Barton sent him off immediately under the new rule known as the ‘Vinicius Law,’ and Paraguay will be without him for the match against Australia. Days later, in Boston, Jude Bellingham repeated the identical gesture toward Ghanaian Jordan Ayew during the scoreless draw between England and Ghana at the 2026 World Cup. Referee Said Martínez saw it. VAR reviewed it. And they decided not to punish anything. 😤
As if that were not enough, FIFA awarded the Real Madrid midfielder the match MVP. Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz accused Bellingham of insults before downplaying the incident. The Paraguayan federation, according to several media outlets, has already filed a formal protest with FIFA. The ‘Vinicius Law’ was approved on April 28, 2026 and leaves room for interpretation by the referee, but what in theory makes it flexible now seems to be the problem. 🏆 A rule that is applied depending on who breaks it?
