Beau Dure argues that Fifa has made World Cup refereeing unnecessarily chaotic by introducing newly revised laws at the tournament before they have been properly tested in major competitions. He says this has turned matches into a confusing, improvised spectacle, with officials, players and viewers all trying to adjust on the fly. The point matters because the World Cup is football’s biggest stage, and unclear rule changes can directly affect results, credibility and public trust in officiating.

The article compares the situation to “Calvinball”, a game with shifting rules, and says World Cups already carry enough inconsistency because referees from different regions interpret fouls differently. Dure notes that the latest laws formally changed on 1 July, but Ifab allows competitions already under way to delay implementation until the next competition, which he says should have applied because World Cup qualifying began before then. He contrasts this with clearer past changes such as five substitutes in 2022 and goalline technology in 2014, while recalling that VAR first appeared at the World Cup in 2018 and citing Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón and the USA’s Tim Ream as an example of how newer review rules can create confusion.