Zambian shot-stopper Catherine Musonda will miss the game against Spain after collecting two yellow cards against Japan. She was sent off for her second professional foul of the game, which led to a penalty and fifth goal.

In the 50th minute of the match, Musonda brought down Japanese forward Mina Tanaka, who was through on goal. Swedish referee Tess Olofsson awarded a penalty to Japan and showed a yellow card to the Copper Queens’ goalkeeper.

However, the match official overturned the penalty decision due to an offside call on Tinaka spotted by the Video Assistant Referee. In the aftermath of the verdict, Musonda’s yellow card still stood.

Deep into second-half stoppage time, Musonda was called into action again. The Zambian goalkeeper fouled Japanese forward Riko Ueki to concede another penalty. This time around, the Video Assistant Referee did not come to the aid of the Copper Queens, and the penalty stood.

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Musonda was given her marching orders, as this was her second yellow card of the evening. She was replaced by Eunice Sakala, who conceded the retake after Ueki missed the first attempt.

“Catherine Musonda should not have been red carded”- fans left confused by VAR call

The issue of debate is Musonda’s first yellow card, which many fans believe should have been rescinded. In their argument, since the penalty was called off, the yellow card should have also been reversed unless it was a result of indiscipline or serious foul play.

Dayot Upamecano was in a worse situation than Musonda, as he was shown a straight red card. The French defender brought down Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, who was presented with an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.

However, following a VAR check, the Norwegian striker was deemed to be offside, and the match official rescinded Upamecano’s red card.

This has left many fans questioning the consistency of the Video Assistant Referee. Many football enthusiasts believe Musonda’s first yellow card should have been revoked.

Fans even compared the incident to that of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash between Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

Why was Musonda’s first yellow card not canceled after the VAR review?

The answer lies in IFAB’s Laws of the Game regarding such incidents. Which states:

“If play continues after an incident which is then reviewed, any disciplinary action taken/required during the post-incident period is not cancelled, even if the original decision is changed (except a caution/sending-off for stopping or interfering with a promising attack or denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity).”

In short, if a player commits an offense after the offside, the punishment he or she gets will stand even if other events that followed (in this case, a penalty) are revoked.

However, there is an exception to this law; a player can only be forgiven if he or she commits a foul to stop an obvious scoring opportunity. This was why Dayot Upamecano’s red card was rescinded against Manchester City.

However, the debate lies on whether Musonda qualified for the criteria of “attempting to stop an obvious goalscoring opportunity”. Well, according to the match official, she did not.