Football player sent off for tripping over himself

The VAR (Video Assistant Referee) was supposed to make referees' lives easier but it failed miserably in Belgium when Sebastien Pocognoli was sent off for tripping over himself.

The Standard Liege player was controversially given his marching orders in the second half of the 3-1 win against Kortrijk in the Belgian Pro League.

Pocognoli had burst into the opposition goal square after a pass from one of his teammates when he became tangled in his own feet.

The Liege man had already passed one defender and had another one in front of him with the ball fast going out over the by-line.

Pocognoli's right boot accidentally clipped his left, sending the Belgian man tumbling over in the box with neither opposition player within metres of him.

The referee initially pointed to the spot to award the home side a penalty but decided to make use of the video technology at his disposal.

Incredibly, despite all angles showing that Pocognoli tripped over himself, and the player not even appealing for the penalty in the first place, the VAR decided it was a bookable offence for diving.

The defender was already on a yellow card at the time, meaning he could play no further part in the last 30 minutes of the match.

Pocognoli looked absolutely bemused by the decision but his attempts to convince the official that he didn't dive merely fell on deaf ears.

Fortunately the incident didn't have a bearing on the result for Liege, who managed to see out the remainder of the match with their two goal advantage in tact.