Rule Change: FIFA Adds Moonwalk Review To VAR After Socceroos Star Keeps Doing Smooth Criminal Ritual
Officials said referees must now determine whether a goal celebration contains excessive lean, clear and obvious pop influence, or dangerous hat absence.
FIFA has added moonwalk review to VAR after a Socceroos star’s pre-match Smooth Criminal ritual forced officials to determine whether football law currently covers excessive lean.
The new protocol allows referees to pause play and check whether a player has gained an unfair advantage through backwards sliding, white socks, dramatic shoulder isolation, or entering a match with the spiritual confidence of a man about to accuse the defending line of being struck by a smooth criminal.
“The laws of the game were not written for this,” said FIFA technical adviser Jerome Kappel. “They address offside, handball, misconduct, substitutions. They do not address a winger moonwalking past the fourth official while the assistant referee quietly wonders if he should have brought a hat.”
Under the trial, VAR officials can draw calibrated lean lines on the replay monitor and compare a player’s torso angle against approved thresholds. Any lean beyond 38 degrees will trigger an on-field review, unless the player is Australian, in which case officials must first determine whether this is just how the nation processes pressure.
Coaches have welcomed the clarity but warned the rule may encourage copycats, with several teams already practicing goal celebrations inspired by “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and the dangerous late-era category known only as “stadium fedora work.”
At press time, FIFA had confirmed that grabbing the crotch after scoring would remain a yellow card unless performed with enough historical context.
