BBC Sport's investigation exposed a technical rule violation in the USA-Paraguay match on June 13. Dutch referee Danny Makkelie initially booked USA captain Tim Ream for fouling Paraguay forward Miguel Almiron in the penalty area. However, Almiron had not been touched—he had dived.
VAR referee Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain) sent Makkelie to the pitchside monitor. Makkelie reversed the yellow card on Ream and instead booked Almiron for diving, a decision praised by many commentators. However, BBC sources with knowledge of IFAB rules confirmed the decision was technically incorrect.
The mistaken-identity rule allows VAR to correct decisions only when a referee "has clearly penalised the wrong player." The rule does not permit VAR to cover situations where an opposing player has dived; it only applies to cases of mistaken identity between players. The dive itself cannot be reviewed under this specific rule provision.
The USA ultimately won 4-1, so the card decision did not affect the result. FIFA has not yet issued clarifying guidance on whether this precedent will stand or require correction for consistency in future VAR diving and yellow-card reviews.
→ Match stats and preview on ScanGoal