Messi’s Red Card Escape and the Helplessness of Weak Teams: Star Immunity Behind VAR’s Inaction

Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City was packed with 76,000 people. In the 31st minute, Lionel Messi, with his studs up, stamped hard on the calf and Achilles tendon of Algeria's captain, Aïssa Mandi.

Mandi didn't roll around on the ground in agony, nor did he clutch his leg to pressure the referee.

This had nothing to do with toughness. The captain of an underdog team, before a superstar and the referee, has been conditioned: knowing that shouting himself hoarse won't help, he simply kept his mouth shut.

Polish referee Szymon Marciniak awarded a free kick but didn't pull out a card. The VAR room stayed completely silent throughout.

After the match, refereeing expert Graham Scott came out to smooth things over, saying, "The Algerian player's subdued reaction was one of the factors VAR considered in deciding whether to intervene."

Using the victim's silence as a get-out-of-jail-free card is an absurd justification. Law 12 of the IFAB Laws of the Game states in black and white: a tackle that uses "excessive force or brutality" and endangers an opponent's safety must result in a sending-off. With studs aimed at the Achilles tendon, the physical destructive force is maximized. Is the severity of the punishment now to be determined by how loudly the victim cries out in pain?

South Africa coach Hugo Broos fired off directly in front of the media. His player, Zane, had previously been suspended for three matches for a similar action. Broos's words were sharp: "My player was suspended for three matches for a similar action. Messi did the same thing and didn't even get a yellow card."

"Lack of intent" and "subdued victim reaction" are two pieces of fig leaves the refereeing community stitches together for big names. One is used to blur the level of danger of the action, and the other shifts the responsibility for the decision directly onto the victim's emotional display. Marciniak, who refereed the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, knows all too well how to leave leeway for superstars on the margins of the rules. Under the skewed balance of power, a red card becomes like putty, shaped according to who is on the receiving end.

At the final whistle, Argentina won the match 3-0.

Messi scored a hat-trick, bringing his total World Cup goals to 16, tying Miroslav Klose's record. Kylian Mbappé follows closely with 14 goals.

The data listed in the official reports cannot hide the disgrace of the 31st minute. The milestone of 16 goals is dazzling, but it is built on the assumption that the opponent should have been playing with ten men from that point onward. The moment the studs struck the Achilles tendon, the rules had already been bent out of shape first.