Referee Who Advised Vinicius Red Card Handed Only Yellow for Same Offence in Previous Match

Vinicius Junior's straight red card for pulling the hair of a Villarreal player has a rather curious precedent in La Liga, reports Marca. At the center of both incidents is the same official: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz, who refereed on the pitch in the first instance and served as the VAR in the second.

The first episode dates back to April 19, 2025, during Mallorca's clash with Leganés at Son Moix. On that occasion, Mallorca's Dani Rodríguez pulled the hair of opponent Neyou, yet Muñiz Ruiz decided the infraction warranted only a yellow card.

In the recent encounter between Real Madrid and Villarreal, Muñiz Ruiz was in charge of VAR. It was he who recommended that on-field referee Isidro Díaz de Mera review the monitor after Vinicius grabbed Saliba's hair.

What does Law 12 say?
The Laws of the Game do not explicitly state that every hair pull must result in a red card. It all comes down to whether the incident is interpreted as violent conduct.

Law 12 clearly outlines: "If a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball [...], the action is deemed violent conduct."

This rule was just as applicable to Dani Rodríguez's foul on Neyou in April 2025. The referee had full authority to send the player off had he considered the act brutal or committed with excessive force, but Muñiz Ruiz judged that the contact fell short of that threshold and limited the sanction to a booking.

A shift in criteria, not the rules themselves
The discrepancy between the two near-identical incidents stems not from an overhaul of the rulebook over the past eighteen months, but rather from a refinement in refereeing guidelines.

In August 2026, the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) issued an updated handbook providing clearer examples for interpreting acts of violence. The guidance emphasizes that awarding a straight red card requires assessing factors such as "the intensity of the action, the specific gesture, the contact area, the force applied, and the degree of risk generated."

The CTA did not establish a blanket rule mandating an automatic dismissal for any grab of the hair; rather, it clarified when such an act crosses the line into violent conduct due to its force and brutality.

This is what makes the situation surrounding Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz so striking: he issued only a yellow card to Dani Rodríguez, yet 18 months later, operating from the VAR room, pushed for a red card against Vinicius. Under refereeing guidelines, the distinction lies strictly in how the force, intensity, and risk of each incident were assessed.