Heated Match in Turkey

Hand to Mouth—Red Card! Former Rapid Player Right in the Thick of It

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20.06.2026 06:13
Porträt von krone Sport
Von krone Sport

Not a brutal foul, no—just a hand held in front of the mouth—and that was enough for the VAR to intervene during the World Cup match between Turkey and Paraguay. A red card followed for Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron. And a former Rapid player was right in the thick of it.

It’s stoppage time in the first half. Paraguay has been leading 1–0 since the 64th second (!). Turkey is struggling, unable to make a decisive breakthrough. It’s a heated match. Time and again, there are scuffles and clusters of players. This happens again now, in the 45+4th minute. Then a stoppage, commotion. The VAR intervenes. He calls the referee over to the sideline. It slowly dawns on everyone: it’s the new FIFA rule that proves to be Miguel Almiron’s undoing.

Müldür asks
What had he done? Something that has been frowned upon since this World Cup and is clearly being punished harshly. Almiron had covered his mouth with his hand and whispered something (presumably not very friendly) to an opponent. The recipient: a man well known in Austria, former Rapid player Mert Müldür. He immediately “snitched” that Almiron had committed a foul, rushed over to the ref, and—by mimicking the gesture—repeatedly and emphatically drew the ref’s attention to Almiron’s offense. And just like that, the referee rushed to the sideline for a video review. And afterward, he actually pulled out the red card.

Almiron was stunned afterward, completely at a loss. But in terms of the rules, the referee was definitely in the right.

Was it also Mert Müldür’s “success”?

Mert Müldür also brought Miguel Almiron’s foul to the assistant referee’s attention.
Mert Müldür also brought Miguel Almiron’s foul to the assistant referee’s attention.(Bild: AP/APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Dean Mouhtaropoulos)

Anti-racism measure
The background to the rule: an anti-racism measure. By rigorously penalizing the “hand gesture,” the aim is to prevent players from conveying racist messages. Miguel Almiron has certainly taken that to heart by now.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

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